The other day I retired from the Police Force which means my 30th year of serving Queen and Country.
I spent my whole police career pounding the streets of the small pit villages on the coast of County Durham. A lot of people would think it would be boring staying in the same area for so long but I can guarantee that was not the case. Throughout the years I’ve been stabbed, bitten by dogs, bitten by humans, fell through rooves, knocked over, threatened with guns, knives, needles, weights, spat at by Hep carriers in the mouth, punched, slapped, scratched and God knows what else. I’ve seen my share of violent deaths and a lot of hangings.
I must say it has been eventful. I have enjoyed 99% of my time and the only low moments were few and far between.
I must admit I did go slightly early on the advice of various medical professionals and after nearly 30 years of running towards danger whilst others ran the other way, I thought I’d have a break from being constantly on edge and fearing for my life.
I will state that my time in both the Army and the Police are the cause of my of PTSD which was diagnosed in October 2014, however after finding out what PTSD actually was (I’m a bit thick, ha!) I can pin point the cause to be an incident I witnessed whilst I was about 11 years old, and any incident involving extreme violence to a human head since has not processed properly causing nightmares and very annoying flash backs.
Anyway, onward and upwards and start of a new chapter in my life!
Northern Hiker 