All about my Injury
Injury is very much an occupational hazard for a Police Officer. I was subject to quite a few injuries during my service with the Greater Manchester Police but the injuries that led to my disability are as follows:-
In 1989 or 1990 together with another Police Officer I attended to a report of a man trying to commit suicide by throwing himself from a bridge into a canal. The man was pulled from the parapet of the bridge and was restrained on the floor by a Policewoman colleague and myself. During the ensuing fracas I was kicked in the face, knocking me unconscious, breaking my nose and causing a severe hyper flexion or whiplash of my neck. I remember hearing a tremendous crunching sound that clearly didn't come from the area of my facial injuries. I did not report sick following this incident, but, was aware within a couple of days that I was suffering from urgency and frequency of urination. In hindsight this was the first symptom of my neck injury, these symptoms being intermittent until the eventual diagnosis of my condition years later.
The man was treated in hospital for minor injuries sustained as a result of his suicide attempt and released. I understand that within a couple of weeks he had succeeded in killing himself.
In 1993 whilst undergoing self defence training at Stretford Police Station I suffered another neck injury when I was thrown landing heavily on my neck and was then subject of a colleague falling on top of me. This lead to an immediate exacerbation of my symptoms.
As a footnote to this it may be of interest to note that had I sustained these injuries as the result of a criminal assault on myself I would have been able to submit a claim under the government run Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. However I was informed that I couldn't make such a claim because there was no criminal intent in the man's actions.
It is fortunate that both incidents were at the time correctly recorded in the relevant accident logs as this has been instrumental in subsequent pension and industrial injury claims. I later underwent spinal surgery involving bone grafting with a resulting disability which is described more fully in the My Disability page.