A former police officer whose health was seriously impacted following a life-threatening emergency has revealed how it changed her life forever.
Caroline Faiers was working on the beat as a police officer in south Norfolk when she was sent to a 999 call that saw her and a colleague having to restrain a seriously violent man.
The pair spent 40 minutes holding the individual on the floor as they waited for back-up to arrive, knowing that if he got free, they would be seriously harmed – or worse.
At the time, Miss Faiers, 49, of Norwich, was rewarded for her bravery with a commendation but it would become an incident that changed her future forever, she explained.
“Following that incident, it all started to go wrong,” she said.
“I was never the same after that and have now learnt that I wasn’t able to leave the ‘fight or flight’ response mode.”
Its impact was something that would go on to have devastating consequences.
Soon after, she became unwell. Her physical health declined - despite previously being at peak fitness as a daily gym-goer, runner, and swimmer - and she was forced to abandon front line duties.
She started working in Norfolk Constabulary’s control room headquarters but found herself regularly falling asleep at her desk.
A former recipient of a Student Officer of the Year award, her life was beginning to unfold, and she was medically discharged and retired from Norfolk police in 2016.
She said: “It completely destroyed me as I thought I would remain in the force forever. I felt like I was destined to be a police officer and work my way up the ranks.
“I felt as if life was over for me, and I thought ‘whatever am I going to do now’.”
She was diagnosed with anxiety and fibromyalgia, a disorder that affects muscle and soft tissue and is characterised by chronic muscle pain, tenderness, fatigue and sleep disturbances.
“I thought I would never be able to work again," she added.
“I hit absolute rock bottom, feeling that any kind of future was totally over for me.
“In fact, I spent a year feeling very sorry for myself, but then something urged me to change.”
Despite dealing with the breakdown of a relationship on top of her diagnosis, she decided the time was right for a dramatic change.
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After receiving counselling herself, and witnessing first-hand the impact it can have, she enrolled in a degree at the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate course at the University of Suffolk in person-centred counselling.
She has now retrained as a counsellor and, after volunteering with organisations including Mind and The St. Barnabas Counselling Centre, she has launched her own business Pure Thoughts Counselling.
And if her name is a familiar one, then that is because she was also well-known for her time in the rock band, Pure Passion, for many years.
She added: “I believe I can help those that endure chronic illness, and the life-changing effects this can have on a person and on their families, due to my own lived experience.
“I’d really like to help others working in the police force too, who may not feel they can open up. There is still a lot of stigma with police officers feeling that they can’t.”
Miss Faiers, of Mile Cross, first joined the police at the age of 30 when she had been living in Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk.
Now she has turned from copper to counsellor, and said: “So, it wasn't the end for me after all - just the beginning in fact.”
Visit purethoughtscounselling.com for more information about her services.
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