Where has the time gone? It has been fifteen years since that fateful day on Sept 11, 2001 and to this day the aftershocks are still being felt by New Yorkers, those that witnessed the carnage on television, and those special individuals - our First Responders - who everyday serve and protect us. I don’t know any of the people that died during the attacks but I feel spiritually connected to them. I went down to New York to debrief and support Police Officers after 9/11. Two stories stand out for me. One was of a female officer who was so close to her sister that the sister had agreed to carry her baby for her as she was infertile. Her sister talked to her from the top of one of the towers as the flames were melting the roof. This poor woman was so fully immersed in her grief and trauma from the incident that she was unable to function or make meals for her step children. Her workplace was not supporting her to take time off from work to get herself sorted out. (They probably feared everyone wanting to take time off as they all had double shifts to do both doing regular policing and then inspecting and cleaning up the debris.) I tried to advocate for her and her superiors backlashed at me. She was so frustrated that she blew a gasket and quit……which was probably better than internalizing the anger and sinking deeper into depression. The other story was of an officer who had witnessed multiple atrocities and had decided as a result of what he’d witnessed that he was going to choose to invest more love and appreciation into every day that he had with his wife and children. Both of these stories are filled with trauma and grief and yet the empowerment and resilience of these two amazing officers is what has stayed with me. Every day our First Responders run into burning buildings, stop criminals, save our lives at accidents and I feel grateful for them. In the past year there has been a presumptive law formed that allows them to get WSIB for PTSD without having to prove that it is from their job, because the number of traumatic incidents that they witness is so high. I'm glad that they got this recognition and support. These men and women joined their profession to be helpful to others and they deserve our support when they are impacted by what they experience. And please don't ask them what their worst call has been.....generally they hate that. Just thank them and be grateful for what they do. They come to our aid when we need them because we all matter. We need to support them and thank them because they matter too.
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