The Horror of April 23rd
The City of Toronto is great in so many ways but on Monday, April 23, 2018 in the early afternoon it experienced something truly terrible. A madman decided to drive down the sidewalk on Canada's best known street, killing to date, 10 innocent people. Those affected my this senseless tragedy are too numerous to mention but in this blog I want to write about the cops who saw something nobody should be asked to witness. I will try to be careful what I say.
Today I spent time with several of these brave men and women and I heard their stories. I heard them compliment the citizens of Toronto for their help in the midst of an horrendous scene that spanned several city blocks. It was heart-warming to hear about Torontonians coming together as one and for one day silencing the cop-haters who love and get the media attention.
Most of the cops that arrived on the numerous scenes that stretched down Yonge Street, always knew this day would come but few if any were prepared to see and hear what they did. I will not share those things because they were said in confidence and it will be their choice of whether or not to talk about it. As a chaplain and as mental health workers, we recognize this will be a long and difficult journey for many. Something that most of us probably won't even think of, is the communications operators who took these calls. Those that relayed the calls to the cops as they headed to scenes they couldn't explain because it had never happened this way before. It was a difficult situation that all the training in the world could not prepare any of them for.
Last week I spoke at two conferences to cops and others about PTSD from a Christian chaplain's perspective. Much of what I said was based on my personal dealings with people, both cops and non-cops, who had experienced traumatic events. For some it developed into PTSD and for others memories they will never forget. April 23, 2018 will not be forgotten by any of us who live in and around Toronto. Please take time and pray for those first responders who didn't just hear about the horror but witnessed it first hand. They are heroes and make sure you remind them of that.
Today I spent time with several of these brave men and women and I heard their stories. I heard them compliment the citizens of Toronto for their help in the midst of an horrendous scene that spanned several city blocks. It was heart-warming to hear about Torontonians coming together as one and for one day silencing the cop-haters who love and get the media attention.
Most of the cops that arrived on the numerous scenes that stretched down Yonge Street, always knew this day would come but few if any were prepared to see and hear what they did. I will not share those things because they were said in confidence and it will be their choice of whether or not to talk about it. As a chaplain and as mental health workers, we recognize this will be a long and difficult journey for many. Something that most of us probably won't even think of, is the communications operators who took these calls. Those that relayed the calls to the cops as they headed to scenes they couldn't explain because it had never happened this way before. It was a difficult situation that all the training in the world could not prepare any of them for.
Last week I spoke at two conferences to cops and others about PTSD from a Christian chaplain's perspective. Much of what I said was based on my personal dealings with people, both cops and non-cops, who had experienced traumatic events. For some it developed into PTSD and for others memories they will never forget. April 23, 2018 will not be forgotten by any of us who live in and around Toronto. Please take time and pray for those first responders who didn't just hear about the horror but witnessed it first hand. They are heroes and make sure you remind them of that.
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