THE BROTHER of veteran who took his own life has organised a fundraising day and will run the marathon in memory of his brother.

Kirk McLaughlin's 12 years of service ended in March 2014 after a parachute jump went wrong, leaving him with a hip tear that led to medical discharge from the 3rd Parachute Regiment.

The 36-year-old, who lived in Buckhurst Hill and served in Afghanistan, struggled to adapt to life out of the forces and fell into a deep depression.

He died on November 21, one week after his divorce was finalised.

On Sunday brother Taylor is holding a day of activities at Roding Valley High School from 12am to 5pm to raise money for the Mental Health Foundation.

Mr McLaughlin said: “It is in memory of my brother but the main focus is to raise awareness of mental health.

“It is going to be quite big. There’s going to be a raffle and a few football teams having matches.”

In January Kirk and Taylor’s mum Denise questioned the level of care given to her son by the NHS and urged a thorough investigation into his death.

While Mr McLaughlin says there are still ‘a lot of questions to be answered’ and the fall-out from his brother’s death has been ‘very hard’, he has found an outlet in marathon training.

“I will be running the London Marathon next Sunday,” he added.

“It is my first one but I’m not really phased by it. I’ll probably hit a brick wall but I’ll get through it.

“Organising the charity day and training for the marathon has given me something to get up for.

“My family has had ups and downs, but we are a strong family.”

Mr McLaughlin has raised £4,500 for the Mental Health Foundation so far.

Click here to support the charity.