University of Bradford graduation: 'Archaeology pulled me back from the brink' says veteran who survived Falklands War

This week, he graduated with a first-class BSc (Hons) in Archaeology, proving it’s never too late to start a new chapter.

“I’m really proud of myself,” Sean says. “I left school with nothing. Now I’ve got a degree. It’s been a long road, but I’ve packed a lot into my life — and I’m proud of this last leg of the journey.”

Sean’s path to university was anything but conventional. After 24 years in the Navy — including surviving a missile strike on HMS Glamorgan that killed 13 of his shipmates — he went on to run his own commercial diving company.

It was stressful work that involved underwater construction and demolition, surveying, salvage and even inspecting wrecks carrying live ordinance.

The trauma of war, combined with the stress of high-risk underwater work, eventually led to a breakdown that changed his life forever.

“There wasn’t really any proper recognition or support for veterans back then,” he says. “I ended up self-medicating with alcohol just to sleep. It was a dark time.”

“The events of the Falklands was something I had never dealt with,” he recounted previously.

“Servicemen and women in the past were always told to ‘shut up or ‘man up’ and that’s the worst thing you can do…

"Often, when you have these feelings, you think you’re the only one. It can be very lonely.”

Things began to change when Sean became a carer for his father, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer.

That sense of responsibility sparked a turning point. He discovered Breaking Ground Heritage, a charity that supports veterans through archaeology.

It was conceived in 2015 by an ex-marine who had seen the benefits of using archaeology as a pathway to recovery through the Ministry of Defence’s own programme, Operation Nightingale.

The scheme assists wounded, injured and sick military personnel and veterans by getting them involved in archaeological investigations.

When he was excavating with other veterans, Sean found all other thoughts and memories would recede.

It was one of the first times he felt he could forget about the war, the memories of the missile attack and the loss of his shipmates.

“When I dig, I go into my own world,” Sean explains. “It’s like diving — everything else fades away. Archaeology gave me peace, purpose, and a way to heal.”

That passion led him to enrol at the University of Bradford. Despite being in his mid-60s, Sean excelled academically, earning top marks and even appearing on TV shows like Digging for Britain and The Great British Dig.

He also took part in a dig in the Orkney Islands and was selected for a prestigious Mitacs Globalink Research Internship in Canada, where he worked on a project supporting veterans and first responders.

“Part of me wishes this had happened 30 years ago,” he says. “But it’s happened now — and you just have to crack on.”

Sean’s story is one of resilience, a trait shown by many of those graduating this week. Take fellow student Ella Bodnar for example.

After fleeing war-torn Ukraine in 2022, she found a new beginning at the University of Bradford, where she has now graduated with a degree in Graphics for Games.

Leaving behind her hometown of Pokrovsk, Ella arrived in the UK through the Homes for Ukraine scheme and overcame immense challenges—including language barriers and the absence of academic records—to pursue her passion for video game design.

The talented artist had completed a year studying computer modelling, programming and animation at university in Ukraine before the invasion broke out.

"It was very hard to leave but we knew, from the start of the invasion, that we had to get out,” she previously said.

"I always dreamed of coming to the UK. Of course I didn’t imagine it would be for this reason.”

With support from her host families and university mentors, she has flourished and now looks ahead to a future in the gaming industry.

Sean, meanwhile, had hoped to continue straight into a master’s degree after completing his undergraduate studies but says age-related restrictions on funding have made that hard to achieve.

He now mentors other veterans struggling with their mental and physical health through archaeological projects and hopes to continue working with Operation Nightingale.

“If I could give advice to anyone suffering from PTSD, I would say just go talk to someone, anybody, don’t keep it to yourself,” he says.

“There is help and support out there. Archaeology saved my life. It pulled me back from the brink.

“I’ve finally found my calling. I now have a mission — to help other veterans through archaeology.”

His message to others, especially those later in life? “Have a crack. The last thing you want is to be sitting by the fire in your slippers wondering ‘what if?’ It’s never too late to try.”