This veteran started a workshop in his garage to help others channel PTSD into art

When Dominic April picks up a hammer and plate of steel in his workshop, he says everything else melts away.

As he sculpts metal in the forge in his garage he temporarily forgets about the things he saw while serving nearly 28 years in the military with the Royal 22nd Regiment and during his time in the Airborne Regiment as a paratrooper.

"I forget that I saw such things in Bosnia," said April. "All these things disappear for me during the day. I don't think about anything else."

In 2018 a newfound passion for forging turned into a small business: Atelier du Vieux Corbeau, located about 50 kilometres west of Quebec City. April opened his garage doors to welcome veterans learning to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through forging—the process used to shape metal.

'I found a focus. I found a purpose'

For April, the craft was the way he got out of a rut after his career in the military came to an end in 2015.

"When I was in the infantry, in the military, it was my passion being a soldier," said April.

"Now the only thing I have is what's going on in my mind."

Going back to school, he emerged with a diploma in carpentry but found himself unable to work on construction sites.

"Was too hard for me, too much noise, too much. Everything was just chaos for me, in my head," said April.

That was until he tried out a blacksmith course.

"I went, took a course and my God, I found a focus. I found a purpose," said April.

Sent to the Veterans Affairs Hospital for PTSD for two months, when he got out of the hospital, April decided to start his own shop in his garage.

'It was very, very comforting for me'

The garage has since become a safe space for other veterans, who April allows to use the workshop free of charge in exchange for their pieces, which he then sells to make up the cost of materials. 

Denis Charron, an ex-armoured crewman and intelligence officer who served 28 years, visited April's garage in September.

LISTEN | Why a Canadian veteran turned to forging as therapy: 

Quebec AM14:12Vets forge steel to help deal with PTSD

Following his military career, Dominic April turned to transforming metal as a way to manage his own PTSD and support other veterans and former first reponders do the same. He joined host Julia Caron to talk about healing his mental health with the help of fire, a hammer and an anvil.

"It was very, very comforting for me," said Charron.

Forging steel, Charron made a rose for his wife which he now displayed in their dinning room.

He says the experience helped him let his guard down and "become creative again."

"I don't have to worry about my hyper vigilance. I don't have to worry about my stress and anxieties," said Charron.

"There's no screaming. There's no shouting ... We discuss and we get together, we realize that we are all suffering from the same issues."