On August 2, 2007, Constable Robert Plunkett, a York Regional Police officer, was killed in the line of duty while attempting to make an arrest. Amanda Plunkett was an innocent, fun, motivated and happy teenager. The dealth of her father caused Amanda to now deal with post traumatic stress, depression, anxiety and grief.
Amanda's mission is to educate people, through her own story, about the potential burdens of traumatic incidents and how one can overcome them.
The Trauma Speakers Bureau
"Be Inspired"
Amanda Plunkett
"My mission is to educate people, through my own story, about the potential burdens of traumatic incidents and how one can overcome them."
- Amanda PlunkettFor more information
Copyright 2010 Tema Conter Memorial Trust | Charity Registration Number 82074 5917 RR0001
Daughter shares journey: Fallen officer’s daughter inspires others
Sitting on baseball bleachers in a quiet Barrie-area sports complex, Amanda Plunkett occasionally glances over to nearby trees as she gathers her thoughts.
The daughter of York Regional Police Det.-Const. Robert Plunkett, who was killed in the line of duty in Markham in 2007, exudes hope and strength as she talks about working to engage and inspire others.
A constant presence in the courtroom during the criminal trial that explored her father’s death and saw the man who killed him convicted of manslaughter, Ms Plunkett, 22, and her family have had to grieve in a very public way.
But, unlike some, she has shifted her high profile from that of a person suffering to one hoping to inspire by doing what others in their early 20s do — finishing school and blogging. And she thanks her father for a bit of help with that.
“I think some of the reason that I am how I am, turning this into something positive, is because of him,” she said. “He did that. He would make the best of any situation. He was definitely a family man; he loved being around his family.”
The family, which once lived in York Region, moved to the Barrie area so they could ski and camp together, she said.
But that life was abruptly shattered when Nadeem Jiwa crushed her father with a car.
Ms Plunkett said the trial, which took place almost four years later, was akin to a drug addict’s relapse. As the weeks since her father’s death turned into months and then years, she tried to continue with her life. But bail hearings, preliminary inquiries and then the trial itself kept pulling her back.
Life had to be put on hold, she said. While prosecuted for first-degree murder, Mr. Jiwa was convicted of manslaughter.
“After the trial was over, it was like he had died all over,” she said. “I felt like I was back to Aug. 2, 2007. It took a little bit to get over that. Now, I feel like I can talk about it. ”She admits to mishearing the verdict, believing initially that her father’s killer had been convicted of murder.
It was when she heard her mother, Sonja, weeping as she left the courtroom, that the reality of the situation hit her. “She was legitimately sobbing — I think that will stand out in my mind for the rest of my life,” Ms Plunkett said.
Vince Savoia knows first-hand about the lasting mental anguish traumatic experiences can bring.
While working as a Toronto paramedic in 1988, Mr. Savoia was one of the first responders dispatched to the murder of Tema Conter. “It wasn’t until I started driving home that I completely broke down emotionally,” he said. “The next 12 years were absolutely horrendous for me.”
But, instead of lying down, Mr. Savoia sat up and began his own healing process by creating an organization that raises awareness of post-traumatic stress suffered by emergency service personnel.
The Tema Conter Memorial Trust, which is now in its tenth year, does so by providing scholarships to those enrolled in emergency services-related post-secondary programs and through its speakers bureau.
Ms Plunkett is one of its speakers.
The organization wants emergency responders, who can encounter some of the worst humanity has to offer, to receive a peer-support call immediately, rather than 48 to 72 hours after a traumatic incident, as is currently the case.
“Sometimes, that is not fast enough,” Mr. Savoia noted.
The national trust, which is headquartered in King Township, also runs a hotline for distressed emergency workers. Mr. Savoia will provide immediate peer support and if that doesn’t go far enough, the organization has a network of mental health professionals at the ready.
For the most part, emergency workers handle the day-to-day stress of their jobs well. But at the core of the trust’s peer support program is the notion the stigma about mental illness does not stop when it reaches emergency workers, he said.
While many emergency services have employee assistance services, often, workers are not convinced about confidentiality and worry that by reaching out for help, they will appear weak and put their chances for future promotion or success in jeopardy, he added.
While Nadeem Jiwa may have stolen Det.-Const. Plunkett’s voice, he couldn’t silence the officer’s daughter. A therapist working with Ms Plunkett knew she wanted to start speaking about what she was going through, so after a trial run speaking engagement with a support group with which the therapist was affiliated, she connected with The Tema Conter Memorial Trust. Her first Tema Conter speech was in February at an annual awareness conference.
She discusses the difficult emotional waves she has rode during the past four years and continues to navigate. As she has tried to continue her schooling, she has encountered a myriad of difficulties, including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety and panic attacks.
“It’s really rewarding that people do want to know what happens with grief and trauma and it’s not something everyone can relate to, so it can educate them.”
She speaks again next month in Ottawa.
“It feels like, not the end of my grief, because I do think grief is ongoing, but it I can look back at where I was and see where I am now,” she said. “Once I’m done speaking, I feel great to have come full-circle.”
With the next phase of her journey just beginning, she acknowledged she initially wanted to keep her struggles, and the medication she had been prescribed to combat them, hidden.
Not so, now. “That’s what I hope will come of speaking — that it’s OK to get help.”
By Joe Fantauzzi
August 31, 2011
YorkRegion.com
