A run to tackle tragic 'demons' of police suicide in Canada

Clairmont: A run to tackle tragic 'demons' of police suicide
Family hopes cop’s suicide spurs dialogue and healing
The Spec.com
By Susan Clairmont
March 12, 2014

It is hard to imagine that someone who was so loved, by so many, could feel so alone.

Those words came to me in an email from a Crown attorney the day after Staff Sergeant Ian Matthews took his life at Hamilton Police headquarters on Dec. 17. I have thought of them many times since: at his overflowing funeral; each time a cop or a lawyer shakes their head and says they still can't believe he's gone; whenever I speak to his family.

Ian's family has been remarkably candid about their loss. They use the word suicide. They talk about mental illness. They discuss Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

And they talk about turning their tragedy into something positive for other cops struggling with "demons."

For anybody struggling with demons.

You Are Not Alone is the theme of a walk-run dedicated to Ian, taking place at Bayfront Park on April 10 — which would have been his 48th birthday.
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