Premium Content Subscriber only A Mackay father says Australian Defence Force personnel are banding together to prevent their mates from taking their own life as the system falls short. West Mackay resident Phil Rutherford said while his son had served in mainly peacetime deployments for 11 years as an engineer, he, as well as many in the ADF, had been suicidal. Mr Rutherford's father-in-law also witnessed four decades of trauma at the frontline as a paramedic. He then left the profession to study psychology so he could help his former co-workers after they attended fatalities. Their experiences are why Mr Rutherford is backing the Daily Mercury's