For our March Meeting we were joined by Paul Roe and Holly the Wellness dog. An ex police officer of 30 years standing Paul had come along to talk about his experience of dealing with PTSD. Paul had been attacked on New Year’s Eve 1998 when he was knocked to the ground and kicked unconscious. After three months off work he was just told to get back to his job without any form of counselling or help in any way. During his career Paul was unfortunately caught up in the aftermath of several serious train crashes : Paddington Rail Crash 1999; Hatfield Train Crash 2000; Potters Bar Train Crash 2002; finally the Reading Train Crash 2004. All these incidents involved fatalities and eventually took their toll on Paul’s mental health. At that time there was little help available for serving officers and they were expected to get on with the job. Paul finally had a breakdown six years ago and eventually retired from the police force in 2003.
Together with his dog, Holly he set up Blue Paw Wellness and Trauma Support with the aim of helping others who were in a similar situation. Paul and Holly visit workplaces talking to people who are suffering from stress or PTSD and helping them to come to terms with their problems. During the course of the meeting Holly wandered around quite happily moving from person to person for a stroke and a fuss. It has been said that stroking a dog or other pet can lower a person’s blood pressure significantly. Paul has been involved with the Royal Foundation where he met Prince William who has talked about mental health and related to the time he spent as a helicopter pilot.
Paul ended his talk with a powerful video “the Sound of Silence” showing how people can be helped by being encouraged to open up about their feelings and emotions. He says that he and Holly will continue their work in order to help as many people as possible.