New recruit turns lives around by sharing own mental health experience

13 September 2021

“You put me back on track,” a man told new West Midlands Police recruit Luke Jemson.

Luke shares his own mental health battles while out on the job to encourage people to seek the support they need and help turn their lives around.

Luke, who joined the Force in February, was diagnosed with the life-changing bowel condition colitis eight years ago. Six months into the role and he’s looked back at one of his first jobs, which involved being called to the death of a man following a heroin overdose.

Having realised that the man’s friend, who was also at the scene, was in a “very dark place”, Luke decided to reach out to him by sharing his own experience.

“He didn’t know what to do with himself and he told me he had refused to get help. He said to me, ‘I’m a man and men don’t ask for help, it looks weak’,” said Luke, who admits he shut himself away and didn’t want to be around anymore, after being diagnosed with colitis eight years ago.

“I spoke to him about how I had felt and told him that him asking for help was a strong thing to do.

“As much as it was about attending the incident, it was about the aftercare too. He said to me that he didn’t want me to be called to the flat and it be him who had died. He said it was a big wake-up call for him.”

Two weeks ago, Luke said he bumped into the man while off-duty and noticed he had “completely turned his life around”.

“I didn’t recognise him, he looked totally different. He recognised me,” he recalled.

“He used to paint pictures and since I’d seen him last, he’d started his own business and hadn’t touched heroin.

“He told me that I’d put him back on track, he was very thankful. It was a credit to him but also quite rewarding to know that he listened to my advice.”

Luke said that he wants the public to see police officers are human, not just “uniformed robots”.

“I think police officers and men, especially, are perceived to be ‘the rocks’ of society and therefore shouldn’t say how they feel,” he added.

“Unfortunately, if people don’t start speaking up, the issue could get worse before it gets better.”

On Luke’s last shift on response, he attended a job that involved a man who was harming himself with a knife.

“I said to him, ‘Look mate, I know how you feel’,” said Luke, “He said, ‘No you don’t, you just have to say that’ but then I told him about my own experience and straightaway, the mood changed. I showed him that we’re on the same level.

“All of a sudden, the man went from being very anti-police to him sitting on the sofa, asking for help. We then spoke about my experience, he asked me questions and it resulted in him taking himself off to the ambulance himself.

“Things could have been very different in that situation. Sharing my experience often prevents us from being in danger too, as well as members of the public.

“Ultimately, how can I expect someone to talk about how they’re feeling when I won’t discuss my mental health?”

Luke says that the number of jobs he attends regarding mental health is 100 times worse than he initially thought.

“Did I ever think things would be this bad? Never,” he adds.

“I would say that between 95 to 98 per cent of the calls I get are to do with mental health, to some degree. Whatever age people are, whether they’re young or old, unfortunately, mental health has impacted all of society.”

Luke says he is determined to continue sharing his own experience to not only help others but help build the bridge between the public and the police.

“It might sound cheesy but the biggest tool we all have is the ability to talk,” he ended.