Healing for Our Hero

My husband, Chris O’Barsky, has served his community as a first responder for over 25 years. As with most men and women in this line of work, he has seen his fair share of traumatic incidents, which many of us could not bear to witness just once, let alone year after year for more than 2 decades. What I have learned over the last two years is that there is a huge stigma attached to first responders of any kind and their mental health. Don’t ask for help because it’s a sign of weakness. Don’t ask for help because it will burden someone else. Suck it up buttercup. There are a plethora of statements, thoughts, and assumptions like these that go through the minds of first responders and many of them do not seek out the help they need.

Overtime, this can lead to extremely detrimental effects to their overall mental and physical well-being. My husband did not reach out and ask for help when he needed it and subsequently reached a point where he was unable to cope. Unable to cope with stress. Unable to cope with day-to-day tasks. He was in so much pain mentally that he simply could not cope with life. On September 30, 2021, thanks to my son’s intuition and hypervigilance, he saved Chris’ life. Thanks to the First Responder Center of Excellence, my husband is now getting the help he needs and is on the road to recovery from severe PTSD. They also saved his life.

It is my mission, for the rest of my life, to talk about this and smash the stigma associated with mental health, specifically with first responders. Mental health is just as important, if not more so, than physical health. Being proactive about the mental well-being of our first responders must be a priority. First responders need to feel confident and comfortable asking for help and talking about their mental health on a regular basis. It is my hope that my husband’s (and our family’s) traumatic event and subsequent road to recovery and healing will be a platform to help others who may be struggling with PTSD, anxiety, depression, or suicidal ideations in this field of work. It is an amazing and rewarding career where men and women serve and save the lives of others for a living, but it comes with a heavy price mentally.

Thanks to U.S. Kennels, Inc. and Chris Hardy, our Chris will have the opportunity to adopt and train a service dog that will be a part of his comprehensive recovery plan. This service dog will be trained to sense signs and symptoms that come along with his PTSD (anxiety/distress) and provide grounding to help him refocus. U.S. Kennels, Inc. is a nonprofit that provides service dogs to military veterans at no cost. Chris will be the very first, first responder that they have assisted through their organization. The normal cost to acquire and train a service dog is approximately $30,000. U.S. Kennels, Inc. has agreed to offset this cost for Chris, and he will have to pay approximately $15,000. We are currently working to help find and write for grants, civic organization sponsorships and general fundraising to help fund these costs. Any grants and civic organization sponsorships acquired will be received by the nonprofit, U.S. Kennels, Inc. on Chris’ behalf. This GoFund Me initiative is to help with general fundraising efforts to hopefully meet our goal of $15,000. If you are so inclined to support this cause, we greatly appreciate it!!

‘Ren’ (short for Serenity), was just adopted from the Humane Society in mid-December. Chris Hardy identified her as a puppy candidate service dog training. Chris met her at the Humane Society and fell in love. She has been home with us since December 16th just being a puppy and acclimating, but our hope is that he will be able to start training with her after the first of the year through U.S. Kennels, Inc.

If you are still reading, thank you for hearing our story, and thank you for your support! ❤