Cops made of stern stuff
Port Lincoln community constable and Police Association member, Ian Ryan, lost virtually everything he owned in the Black Tuesday bushfire. He was naturally devastated.
And, although the members of his family survived, he eventually came to wonder how he might have carried on had he lost them as well.
“I don’t know how anybody could have coped with that,” he told the Police Journal.
But one of his fellow association members, Janelle Carman, had to cope with exactly that: the tragic deaths of her young niece and nephew, whom she had loved so dearly.
She said she could not “even put into words” what she felt when she was told of their deaths.
Somehow, she mustered the emotional strength and mental toughness to carry on, in both her work, as a Port Augusta police officer, and her private life. Her emergence, from under the pall which must have hung over her, has been inspirational.
But the story of each member who featured in the Cops’ Black Tuesday pain was an object lesson in human resilience.
Consider the ordeals of Whyalla police officer, Kylee Walsh, and West Coast Intel officer, Greg Van Den Broek.
Despite a conspiracy of events – a late evacuation, a missing dog, cars not starting – Kylee, her police officer husband, Michael, and their two young children literally cheated death as they drove through the fire.
Any scenario in which they might have failed to cheat death was one that Kylee “...didn’t even want to think about...” “That’s the scariest thing...” she told the Police Journal.
And how mentally tough was the drawn-out disaster for Greg Van Den Broek, whom the fire forced away from his own wife and child as they fled into the sea to survive? How many men or women could have endured the frustration of separation from their families in that kind of crisis?
But just as Ian Ryan and Janelle Carman broke through their deep emotional pain, so, too, did Kylee Walsh and Greg Van Den Broek. With their courage, and determination to bounce back, all four officers showed the true depth of their characters.
To the benefit of their families, and the communities they serve, they are made of sterner stuff than most.
...and condolences
For the tragic loss of her niece and nephew, Star and Jack Borlase, the Police Journal extends its deepest sympathy to Janelle Carman and her family.
Also lost earlier this year was former CIB detective, Rick “Ski” Rudzinski, as reported in From under Soviet thumb to SA detective. The Police Journal extends its deep sympathy and support to his wife, Joyce, and the many members of his family of three generations.
