When Dominic April took a hammer and steel plate from his workshop, everything else melted away, he says.

As he creates metal sculptures in his garage forge, he temporarily forgets what he saw during nearly 28 years of military service in the Royal 22nd Regiment and as a paratrooper in the Air Regiment.

“I forgot I saw things like this in Bosnia,” April said. “All this disappears for me during the day. I don’t think about anything else.”

In 2018, his newfound passion for tattooing turned into a small business: Atelier du Vieux Corbeau, located about 50 kilometers west of Quebec City. April opened the garage doors to greet veterans who were learning to cope with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through tattooing, which is used to shape metal.

‘I found a focal point. ‘I found a purpose’

In April, the craft was his way out of the rut after his military career ended in 2015.

“When I was in the infantry, when I was in the military, it was my passion to be a soldier,” April said.

“All I have now is what’s going on in my mind.”

When he returned to school, he emerged with a degree in carpentry but found himself unable to work on construction sites.

“It was so hard for me, so much noise, so much. Everything for me was just complete chaos in my head,” April said.

That was until I tried the blacksmith course.

“I went, I took a class, and my God, I found a focus. I found a purpose,” April said.

April, who was sent to the Veterans Affairs Hospital for two months with PTSD, decided to open her own shop in her garage when she got out of the hospital.

‘It was very relaxing for me’

The garage has since become a safe space for other veterans; April lets them use the workshop for free in exchange for their parts, which she then sells to recoup the cost of materials.

Denis Charron, a former armored crewman and intelligence officer with 28 years of service, visited April’s garage in September.

“That was very, very comforting to me,” Charron said.

Forging steel, Charron fashioned a rose for his wife, which he now displays in the dining room.

He says the experience helped him lower his guard and “become creative again.”

“I don’t have to worry about my hypervigilance. I don’t have to worry about my stress and anxiety,” Charron said.

“No screaming. No shouting… We argue, we come together, we understand that we are all suffering from the same problem.”