It Started With a Problem Nobody Was Talking About
When I finished my fourteenth year as a paramedic, I wasn’t burnt out in the way people imagine burnout. I wasn’t crying in the car park or calling in sick every week. I was just… quieter than I used to be. More distant. Going through the motions at home while carrying things I didn’t have the language to explain.
I looked around at my colleagues and saw the same thing. Good people. Dedicated people. People who would run into a burning building without thinking twice — but who had no idea how to sit with what that cost them.
A Backyard and a BBQ
The first gathering wasn’t strategic. I texted a handful of mates and said come over Saturday, I’ll put some snags on. Twelve people showed up. We talked for five hours. Someone cried. Someone laughed harder than they had in months. By the time people left, something had shifted.
Three of those twelve people are still core to what The Broken Path is today. The others have moved, changed careers, started families — but they still show up when they can, because what we built that afternoon doesn’t really go away.
Where We’re Going
This year we’re taking The Broken Path to regional Queensland for the first time. Toowoomba, Rockhampton, Cairns. Because isolation doesn’t only happen in the city, and a long drive shouldn’t be the reason someone misses out on connection.
We’re also expanding our peer support training, because the people who support others in our community deserve the same quality of support for themselves.
A Note to Anyone Reading This
If you’ve made it this far, there’s probably a reason. Maybe you’re a frontline worker who’s been running on empty for longer than you’d like to admit. Maybe you’re someone who loves one of those people and doesn’t know how to help. Maybe you just stumbled here and something resonated.
Whatever brought you here, you’re welcome at our table. The door is open. The snags are on. And we’re not going anywhere.
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