Often it takes something like a tumour to make you open your eyes properly.

Later that evening Jamie and Stuart, a couple of friends from the Crime Squad call around. They sit and we chat across the hall on all the good ‘jobs’ I’ve missed as I put the kettle on. Once tea and biscuits, staple diet of the police officer, are out of the way Jamie leans forward and presents me with a bulky envelope. I open it and pull out a card. “Just a little something from the guys at work”, says Jamie. I open the card and my jaw literally drops to the floor. To my amazement, the card is stuffed full of £20 notes. “We had a whip around, thought it would come in handy”. I am overwhelmed and humbled by their generosity. For once I am lost for words. Equally, the words on the card show true compassion and solidarity. I am sincerely honoured to work alongside these people, and as the coming months would show, they surpassed being colleagues, workmates, police staff, police officers and truly became for me my second extended family. I love them with all my heart.