By EMS1 Staff
QUEBEC, Canada — The mother of a paramedic has gone public with her daughter’s suicide in the hopes that she can help other responders dealing with PTSD.
CBC reported that paramedic Andréanne Leblanc died by suicide in March after dealing with PTSD attributed to a fatal Jan. mosque shooting that left six dead. Leblanc’s mother, Lucie Roy, said Leblanc only had one hour of counseling after the incident.
Roy hopes that her daughter’s death will encourage EMS officials to take PTSD seriously.
“When she did this, she wore her paramedic’s uniform,” Roy said about Leblanc’s death. “It was a clear message telling us that she loved her job, but it was difficult. What led her to this torment was post-traumatic stress that was not caught in time.”
Paramedic union vice president Andre Tremblay-Roy said Leblanc never spoke about the incident, but would insist that she was OK.
“I realize that all my colleagues need help sometimes,” he said. “But paramedics have this kind of badge, this kind of label that they are superheroes. We’re not.”