War veteran's PTSD triggered by post office staff in masks

Monday 29 November 2021

Wearing masks in public places once again sits at the centre of Guernsey’s efforts to limit the spread of covid-19.

The States’ Civil Contingencies Authority and Dr Nicola Brink, Director of Public Health, have “strongly recommended” face coverings since towards the end of October, when the number of infections started to rise substantially again.

The World Health Organisation advises face coverings as part of a suite of public health measures. It says that jurisdictions where covid-19 is spreading should “make wearing a mask a normal part of being around other people”. 

But, for some people, face coverings will never feel “normal”.

On Friday, there was a vivid illustration of the difficulties which ‘mask culture’ can cause when the actions of Guernsey Post staff in face coverings triggered distress in a wounded veteran of the war in Afghanistan who has suffered with post-traumatic stress disorder.

As a result of his experiences serving in the Army in Afghanistan, which included episodes with masked terrorists, Andrew Hieghton-Jackson is fearful of people in masks.

In addition, he relies on lip reading to communicate with others after a bomb blast left him with an ear injury, and therefore communication is particularly difficult with anyone wearing a face covering.

Pictured: Posters have been produced which help to illustrate how wearing face coverings - which can seem innocuous to many people - can trigger memories of traumatic or distressing events in others. 

Mr Hieghton-Jackson’s wife, Kirsten Hieghton-Jackson, told Express that her husband was left shaken after being confronted while in a Guernsey Post building without wearing a mask.

“Today my husband and I were in a post office to mail some Christmas packages when we were bombarded by three or four mask-wearing staff members demanding we put on masks,” said Mrs Hieghton-Jackson.

“We explained that we were medically exempt. Then they proceeded to [verbally] attack my husband, who tried to explain he was a wounded Afghanistan veteran and they were triggering his post-traumatic stress disorder. 

“One of the employees said ‘I understand’, to which my husband replied ‘well, no you don’t understand’ and attempted to explain his situation to them. Three of the masked staffed crept towards him, followed him around a corner and essentially chased him out of the building.

“My husband then sat in the car park in serious distress for the next 20 minutes with flashbacks of terrorists with face coverings trying to kill him.”

Mrs Hieghton-Jackson said that one older member of staff “attempted to be more understanding” but another member of staff “was aggressively pushing the masks with a box of masks in her hand thrust forward”.

“Being bombarded in public by three masked staff triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder. This is entirely unacceptable behaviour on the part of the staff.

“Whether you have read the research that explains why masks are not effective at reducing the spread of viruses…or if you are a stickler for the rules is besides the point. The employees at Guernsey Post need a lesson in manners. Three staff members should not attack one customer and abandon all human decency in the name of upholding a rule.”

Pictured: Boley Smilie, Chief Executive of Guernsey Post, was sorry to hear of the concerns expressed by Mr and Mrs Hieghton-Jackson and explained the company's policies on face coverings for staff.

Boley Smilie, Chief Executive of Guernsey Post, apologised for any distress caused to Mr and Mrs Hieghton-Jackson. He said the company would be making no changes to its approach to face coverings.

“Whilst our recollections of this matter are very different to those described by your correspondent, I am of course very sorry about any distress,” said Mr Smilie.

“It is correct that we have a policy to ask customers to wear face coverings when entering our post offices. If any customer has a medical reason for not wearing a face covering then that is absolutely fine, but there will be times when we need to politely enquire about the situation. The decision to make the use of face coverings mandatory simply reflects the fact that we need to look after our team, particularly at what is our busiest time of the year.

“Our current policy will need to remain in place for the foreseeable future and I have absolute confidence that our team will apply that with common sense and good judgement. I am afraid we will not be influenced by any research about the effectiveness or otherwise of face coverings which has not been issued or endorsed by Guernsey’s Public Health team.”

Pictured (top): Andrew Hieghton-Jackson is pictured with Army colleagues in Afghanistan in 2009 just after they had driven over an anti-tank mine.