Discovered: The greatest surfing law enforcement officer of all time! – BeachGrit

Posted On: November 23, 2019

Plus the cure for post-traumatic stress disorder!

Here I sit on a warm patio drinking freshly brewed Nicaraguan coffee while waiting for the tide to fill in just a bit and perusing the news. It’s all fairly typical, bees have learned to surf, scientists have learned to deflect Great White shark attacks, many stock broker wives are paddling out in Australia to learn the Norwegians not to mess, etc. but I just stumbled upon a glorious story that brought a tear to my eye or maybe it’s just sweat.

You tell me.

It was titled Wollongong Cop Links Good Mental Health to Daily Surf and illustrated with the above picture.

I snorted loudly, clicked and read and was thoroughly won over by Detective Senior Constable Jeremy Barnett and the case he makes.

A sample:

After being in the job for 17 years, Det Snr Con Barnett hasn’t suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression, as many of his colleagues in blue have.

“They say if you have been in the job for seven years than you suffer from PTSD,” he said.

“I have been there for 17 years and I don’t know. Maybe, but I don’t think so.

“I have my bad days, as everyone does, but once I go out for a surf it is all forgotten.

“I have seen some pretty horrific things, but I put my good mental health down to surfing.”

Det Snr Con Barnett said he felt like a new “bubbly” person after he went for a surf when feeling down.

“If I’m like that at home, my wife often says to me, ‘just go for a surf’,” he said. “I come back with recharged batteries.”

Beautiful, no?

But what brought the tear to my eye, I’m now certain that it’s a tear, is the photo of Det. Sn. Con. Barnett actually surfing. Of course I pictured some very ugly turn on an 8’0 TufLite or maybe a SUP even though he’s holding a Stretch in the above picture but look here.