WHEN Michael Thornbury joined the police force he did so because he wanted to help others.
He never expected the job to leave him suffering full-blown post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression.
Medically retired from the force in 2012, Mr Thornbury, who headed the Peel traffic crash investigation unit, is now fighting for compensation; not just for himself, but for other police officers forced out of the job due to mental illness.
The fight has taken him to State Parliament with the Opposition moving to support the introduction of a workers compensation scheme for medically retired police officers at their State conference on the weekend.
Speaking at the conference, Mr Thornbury described the circumstances leading to his removal from the job he once loved.
His story is harrowing, and he still finds it difficult to recount the horrors involved in dealing with fatal crashes.
But he is not the only one fighting for compensation.
Wendy Kennedy served 15 years in the Western Australian police force with four of these in Mandurah, where she still lives.
Declared bankrupt after being medically retired in 2003, Ms Kennedy was reduced to selling all her belongings and has often been forced to rely on food packages from charities to make ends meet.
“I don’t even have a car anymore,” Ms Kennedy said.
“I sold my furniture just to survive.”
For Ms Kennedy, it was an interview with a young victim of sexual abuse which finally brought her undone.
“One day I just burst into tears,” she said.
“I couldn’t stop crying and I thought I was going crazy.
“I was so scared.”
What followed was a diagnosis of PTSD and numerous stays in hospital.
The once brave and fearless cop had reached her limit.
It was then Ms Kennedy said she was “cut loose” by the force.
“I was freaked out,” she said.
“I felt so embarrassed and ashamed.
“I felt weak.”
Both Ms Kennedy and Mr Thornbury said they were never offered counselling as part of their job and as well as losing their employment, they felt they had lost their identity.
“I went from a high-profile job serving the community to lining up at the Salvos for vouchers,” Ms Kennedy said.
“It was so humiliating.”
Currently, WA is the only state in the country without a compensation scheme for workers injured – either physically or mentally – on the job.
And while Police Minister Liza Harvey has been reported as saying she was exploring options, nothing has been set in stone.
Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan has never ruled out the implementation of a workers compensation scheme, but he said it would not happen until the Police Union backed down on “extraordinary” sick leave entitlements which saw police granted up to 168 sick days per year.
"I'm very supportive," he told the Mandurah Mail on Wednesday.
"I first introduced the idea of it in 2012.
"We have to have a scheme; the issue is one of fairness and equity."
Mr O'Callaghan said any future scheme would require the support of both the State Government and the Police Union.
Labor’s police spokeswoman Michelle Roberts has said she hoped to try introducing legislation later this year which would see medically retired police officers financially taken care of.
And while this is seen as progress by both Mr Thornbury and Ms Kennedy, it may be too late for any positive changes to help them.
“Unless we get a retrospective scheme it won’t help us,” Mr Thornbury said.
“But we’ve got to try for other people affected by this.
“That’s the whole reason I wanted to be a cop; to help others.”
