The Firefighter Deconstructed sits down with another amazing daughter of a long time police officer. 21 year old Courtney talks about growing up as the oldest kid in a family with a first responder dad that works long hours as a police officer…and ends up with PTSI. No one talked to Courtney to tell her what was going on with her dad. No one explained that her dad was isolating and unavailable because he was being haunted by years of being a police officer. Courtney assumed she should be doing more for her parents instead of her parents doing more for her. At one point Courtney ponders “why even be alive if my parents aren’t here for me.” She also points out that she knows her parents did the best they could. BUT all of this went on much longer than it needed to, if only policeman dad was able to identify what was going on and ask for help. Lack of education and stigma kept Courtney and her dad suffering much longer than needed, which ultimately led to long term issues Courtney is dealing with now. Dear first responder parents (and all parents), you bring your job home with you. You must talk to your kids and you must get help yourself no matter how paralyzing the stigma is. Just listen to Courtney and she’ll tell you all about it.