My boyfriend broke up with me... Should I wait for him

I'm 19 and my boyfriend is 25. He is going to be gone for a year back in his home town for reasons I'm not gonna post to respect him. He has some severe trauma from his home town. He told me that hes sorry but this year he's gonna spend in his home town he's gonna need to face some stuff he's avoided for a while and he doesn't think he can handle a relationship and that. He says its not me he just has some stuff to face and figure out.... I'm so hurt.. But I understand... I told him I would wait for him but he told me not to because he feels like he won't be the same person a year from now and he doesn't know who is will turn him into and he may be a different person than the one I love... Should I wait for him?

Edit: I asked him if he was planning on moving on and he said he would never date anyone there and that whole town can burn to the ground. He just knows he's about to face a lot of trauma and doesn't see him walking out the same person.

Edit: He's not actually gonna burb the town to the ground but if you knew what happened you would want it to burn too. He's just going to face his trauma