A police widow has broken her silence to tell UTV about the terrible toll the job took on her husband and why she believes it led to him taking his own life.
Gary Campbell died by suicide just before Christmas – less than a year after he retired because of severe post traumatic stress.
Susie told UTV “It was awful telling my children. Seeing him in the hospital, I will never forget. Although he looked so peaceful. It was like all the pain had stopped.”
“I will never have peace after this. I will never get over losing him.”
Just before he took his own life, Gary wrote Susie a letter.
“He said I was his best friend, I was his world. The last part of the letter said I wish I never accepted the job with the police, I don’t think we would be here now where we are and I believe that told,’’ she said.
Gary became a police officer back in 2006 but after almost 20 years attending some horrific scenes Sergeant Campbell was emotionally shattered.
“He could see the people’s faces in death, hear their voices, like it was happening all over again.”
Susie feels people could have done more to help her husband and claims they didn’t even reach out when he was being treated in hospital for several months.
“I grew up with my daddy in the RUC and I am very aware of the police family ethos and values. I feel so let down. Families need their support. I needed them whether it was just to say are you ok.”
Ill-health retirement in the police here is at a record high.
Last week the Chief Constable said he takes the well-being of his officers very seriously.
In a statement to UTV police said: “First and foremost our thoughts are with Gary’s family following this tragic loss.
“As a police service we continually work to protect and support our staff to ensure that the risks and pressures which they can face are minimised.
“Policing is, by its very nature, a high risk and challenging profession. Every day police officers and staff encounter difficult circumstances and regrettably, can experience physical and/or psychological injury, and the Police Service of Northern Ireland takes its responsibility to support them very seriously.
“We are committed to continuously improving the range of health and wellbeing services and support we offer to officers and staff.
“An independent, fully security-vetted, self-referral counselling service is also provided by Lena by Inspire and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
“We are exploring our wellbeing and preventative capacity to monitor the psychological health of those working in higher risk posts so that we can provide early interventions.
“We have created a wellbeing and trauma resilience plan designed to offer practical ways to look at mental health and to safeguard wellbeing. Our workforce can also access a wellbeing hub, and are supported by accredited volunteers and post incident peer support team who work across the organisation.
“We recognise the important public role that our workforce performs and will continue to invest and support our people throughout their career in policing.
“We further recognise the impact that a career in policing can have on officers and staff and we are committed to ensuring that support services remain available to them upon retirement. This includes the Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust provision and other foundations that offer signposting and support.’’Catch up with the latest UTV Live on ITVX
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