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Runners show support for first responders with PTSD
In its 10th year, 'Run to Remember' event
at Collège Boréal brings light to an uncomfortable
issue
Heidi
Ulrichsen
City of Greater Sudbury primary
care paramedic Abby Hetu was on hand at the 10th Run to
Remember event at Collège Boréal Nov. 2,
giving tours of an ambulance.
As a recent graduate of Boréal,
Hetu said she and fellow paramedic Brielle Morin were
proud to be back at their school, supporting the event.
“Last year we were
actually both students at this school, and we participated
in the run, so when we got asked if we wanted to come
volunteer, we were like, ‘Yes, absolutely, yes,’”
she said.
This community run/walk aims to support first responders
and military personnel struggling with PTSD through an
organization called IVEGOTYOURBACK911,
which launched in 2014 to highlight the risk of suicide
among first responders.
The event also raises funds
for a merit-based bursary for students in the Fitness
and Health Promotion Program at Collège Boréal.
Oftentimes, first responders
don’t want to talk about how their job is affecting
their mental health, Hetu said.
“I can't say I've seen
something too, too terrible yet,” said Hetu, but
she adds it’s comforting to know that there are
resources available through her employer if she needs
them.
“If we do a tough call,
they pull us off the road, and we have a meeting. It's
called a debrief, and they give you all the resources
if it hit you a little bit harder, because it affects
everyone differently, right?”
The Run to Remember event
featured 1 km, 5 km and 10 km races, with participation
from everyone from kids to seniors.
It was put on by the college’s health and fitness
program, with help from massage therapy, police foundations
and paramedic students.
Organizer Emilie Lacroix,
co-ordinator of Boréal’s health and fitness
program, said about 160 people had registered to take
part in the race, and she hoped to raise $8,000 for the
causes benefitting from the fundraiser.
“It integrates a lot
of concepts that we teach in the fitness and health promotion
program, mental health, and we're also creating an occasion
for the community to be moving with their families outside,”
she said. “So it's really a great activity that
incorporates many programs in the college.”
In the past, first responders
talking about mental health issues such as PTSD was “kind
of frowned upon,” said Breen.
“Now people are becoming
more comfortable with talking to coworkers and seeking
help and the treatments for this,” she said.
Breen was supported at the
event by a group of family members, including her parents,
who travelled from Ottawa to be there.
“I think it's amazing
that, one, I have a supportive family, and two, that it's
showing support for the cause and creating awareness for
post-traumatic stress,” Breen said.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s
assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts
scene
Run to Remember co-founder Valérie
Breen (in front, centre, behind Larry the dog), family
members and the Collège Boréal mascot at
the event's 10th edition at Collège Boréal
Nov. 2.
The event’s co-founder is Valérie Breen,
a primary care paramedic with the city, as well as a professor
in both the paramedic and health and fitness programs
at Boréal.
Heidi
Ulrichsen/Sudbury.com
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