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On 4th July 2010, PC David Rathband was a normal policeman out doing his job. Everyone was on a higher alert because there was a killer on the loose with a shotgun. Raoul Moat, who had recently been released from prison had killed his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend the day before and his force were out looking for him.
Several other people lost their lives as a result of Raoul Moat on that day, some it is believed he sought out and others were in the wrong place at the wrong time. PC David Rathband could have fallen into either of those two camps because Raoul Moat had a real hatred for policeman and had stated earlier that day that he was "hunting for officers" but David Rathband had also previously arrested him in error for the theft of a van but, that day he was sitting alone in his patrol car, unarmed, when Raoul Moat, who later killed himself on the 10th of July, crept up and blasted him in the face with his sawn off shotgun leaving over 200 pellets embedded in his skull.
PC David Rathband's injuries were horrific and although he had an operation to try and save his sight, he was permanently blinded and spent several weeks in hospital. He surprised people by the way that he respondedby saying "I'm just a policeman and a person very proud to be a policeman and that's one of the things that keeps me going, I want to get back to a job that I enjoyed doing."
While still recovering he set up the Blue Lamp Foundation to help members of the emergency services who were injured by a criminal act while at work. The charity was to be there to give any help where needed from something as small as paying car parking fees for relatives visiting injured loved ones in hospital to providing necessary equipment for their new lives. He was seen as survivor and a true fighter.
He then went on to train for and run the London Marathon to raise money for his charity, he attended many events as a speaker and although he showed this brave face to the world he was very angry inside and this became apparent when he spoke after the trials of Karl Ness and Qhuram 'Sean' Awan who were found guilty of helping Raoul Moat and of his own attempted murder. He said "These two individuals, along with the other coward who wasn't man enough to stay here, have taken my job from me."
In November he had a further set back when he announced that he and his wife were separating. Despite spending time with his twin brother in Australia he was still obviously depressed on his return. He was still waiting to go back to work, it has been said that the Police were working him with him to enable him to return to work in April but as he had already waited 20 months to get back to work, if this had been true, I'm sure he could have waited just one more.
It is reported that PC Rathband had recently tweeted to say “lost my sight, my job, my wife and my marriage” and “flying back on Monday and will say goodbye to my children”. Northumbria police then started to receive several messages from people that were getting concerned over his state of mind and one said. “I think someone needs to intervene with David Rathband, his tweets are becoming worrying.”
PC David Rathband was found dead late on 29th February 2012 and no-one was been sought in connection with his death. In the word's on PC David Rathburn in one of his last tweets. "RIP PC Rathband".
Sad to hear this. It's really hard to work on this kind of job - police.
I am not sure a desk job would make him feel useful. He probably would have enjoyed doing police liaison work like educating children about law enforcement. For instance, some police officers teach children about abstaining from drugs or about the dangers of drunk driving.
Yes I'm sure that could have worked well for him. I was just thinking that he could have been doing a desk job earlier while he was still adjusting to his new life
I see what you mean. Hopefully, in the future, when other situations like this occur, they will get help in adjusting to any necessary career changes, either temporary or permanent.
I agree with C. Hughes about the dangers of working with the general public. I am not sure what SAR means. I worked with law enforcement people. The ones working with the general public put their lives on the line every day. I feel sad more people were not helping PC David Rathband with his physical and emotional problems.
I think it means Search & Rescue! My personal opinion is that he needed to feel useful and I think that if he had been given a desk job in the Police Force, possibly supporting the officers that he had worked with, this story would have had a happier ending.
A sad commentary, many of us who are First Responders and public employees have issues around the tasks that we perform. PTSD is a common issue with SAR folks that recover bodies, depression can take its toll as well. It is a sad commentary that our society doesn't recognize the issues with the Volunteer population.
The thing with PC David Rathband is that he loved his job, he knew the dangers and was happy to face them because he was protecting the public. In my opinion what killed him was that he was no longer himself.
a very sad story... and once again brings about the question of why the court system continues to release violent offenders back into society....
worse still in this case one of the jailers had heard him threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend before he was released
That.. was rather sad.. not the best thing to wake up to. The man lost his sight, his job, his wife, etc etc...and pushed him into a state of depression where there was no coming back. All because of 2 individuals aiding a man who started this downward spiral. Smh.. people in this world.. R.I.P PC David Rathband.
Sorry to have upset you, when I heard that he had been found dead I wasn't really surprised but felt very sad that someone who cared for him hadn't seen it coming and given him some more support
Sad tale. Always wondered what kept him going after the shooting. It seems he just could not keep going after all.
I think he just run out of things to keep him going. In the early days he created his charity and wrote his book but he never got his job back and lost his family. There are probably quite a few guilty people around who now realise that they could have done more.
It was sad to hear he had died at home alone, obviously in a dark place! RIP PC Rathband!
I didn't realise until after he died that when he and his wife separated that he went back to the old family home while she stayed in his specially adapted house. He would have been living in a house filled with memories and no adaptations to help with his disability. In my opinion that shouldn't have happened!
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