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"Wounded in the line of duty and paralyzed, police officer Brandon Hultink made an amazing journey from despair to hope. "I can still remember the taste of metal in my mouth from the barrel of the gun ..." After the shoot-out that put him in a wheelchair, police officer Brandon Hultink was ready to put an end to it all. In his frank and compelling memoir The Backpack, Hultink tells how he came to the worst moment of his life, and how faith in God and the humility to accept help brought him out of depression, addiction, and the wheelchair and back into successful life. But Hultink's story isn't his alone?it is also the story of the thousands of police officers who struggle with depression and post-traumatic stress. Cops don't do touchy-feely; they stuff every trauma into a metaphorical "backpack" until the burden overwhelms them. Hultink writes unflinchingly of the mental health crisis affecting police officers and offers proposals for improving mental health services for police. An intensely personal story of anguish and survival, The Backpack offers hope to everyone, police and civilian alike, who struggles with depression and pain"--
List of contents
Foreword
Chapter 1: Desperation...
Chapter 2: The Academy
Chapter 3: Getting Started
Chapter 4: "Cub"
Chapter 5: Idealism
Chapter 6: The Daily Grind
Chapter 7: So You Want to Be a Cop?
Chapter 8: "Do you remember when?" - Everyone Has a Story
Chapter 9: The Face of Evil
Chapter 10: Family and Backpacking
Chapter 11: Supervision and Community
Chapter 12: September 25, 2000
Chapter 13: Intensive Care
Chapter 14: Changes and Coping
Chapter 15: The Black Hole of Depression
Chapter 16: My Faith - "Vertical Horizon: He's Everything You Want"
Chapter 17: The Conundrum of Pain vs Addiction
Chapter 18: Finding Meaning within Pain
Chapter 19: Three things
Chapter 20: The "Buddy System"
Chapter 21: Redefining Strength
Epilogue
Resources
About the author
A graduate of Western Michigan University and the Thomas M. Cooley Law School,
Brandon S. Hultink served for fifteen years as an officer with the Battle Creek, Michigan, Police Department and for ten years as an assistant prosecutor with the Calhoun Country Prosecutor's Office. Hultink currently works as a parole agent for the Michigan Department of Corrections. He lives in Battle Creek with his wife and three sons.
The Backpack is his first book.
