LEADING SENIOR CONSTABLE BROMLEY LLEWELLYN’S WIFE IS A BELIEVER THAT PEOPLE COME TOGETHER FOR A REASON. And the Latrobe Highway Patrol officer might just have to agree after a chance meeting with a young man experiencing mental health troubles saw him use the knowledge gained from his 25-year Victoria Police career and own battle with personal trauma to help make a difference. In June this year, Ldg Sen Const Llewellyn and his shift partner were patrolling in Traralgon one evening when they pulled into a McDonald’s car park for a quick coffee. Jack Reid, a 22-year-old from Paynesville was also in the car park for a break, pacing back and forth because negative thoughts had been weighing on him during a long drive home from Melbourne. “I usually have a few methods to keep the impulsive thoughts at bay, but at this particular time they got away from me,” Mr Reid said. “I was thinking, ‘Jack, you’re in over your head here. It would nice if someone could chuck you a lifeline’.” When Mr Reid saw Ldg Sen Const Llewellyn park his highway patrol car, he remembered how his late father, a Country Fire Authority volunteer, often spoke of the mental health support and training that firefighters and police get. “I saw Bromley, and he’s a big, intimidatinglooking man, but I thought I’d ask for help anyway,” Mr Reid said. “It was one of the best decisions that I’ve ever made.”
CARE AT A CROSSROADS
Mr Reid explained to Ldg Sen Const Llewellyn that he wasn’t travelling well. “I thought he meant physically, but then he explained he was on his way home from Melbourne and didn’t think he could get all the way home because he had some thoughts in his head,” Ldg Sen Const Llewellyn said. “That’s when I thought, ‘Nah, this is something more serious’. “I asked him if he smoked, he said yes and I said, ‘Light up a dart and we’ll have a chat’. “It was just as simple as one bloke talking to another.”
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POLICE LIFE | SUMMER 2020-21
