Peter’s story of mental health recovery at work
31 October 2022
Peter Kirwan works for NSW Fire and Rescue and is now a Training Officer within the NSW Emergency Services Academy.
In this video, Peter shares his story of being injured at workwhen he was involved in an accident with a bus while responding to a motor vehicle collision.
A year later, while assisting in a counter terrorism exercise, Peter sustained further injuries to his back to the point where he could no longer be on full duties.
“As a young firefighter, I had my whole career path planned out and then, when I was put on permanent light duties, everything changed. I had to revaluate what I was and who I was and where I was heading,” Peter said.
Peter talks about the impact his injury had on his mental health and the challenges he faced in his recovery at work journey.
In telling his inspiring story of his mental health recovery in the workplace, Peter talks about the challenges he faced and overcame and how the support from his manager made a huge difference.
For Peter, what made that difference was when his manager asked him what he needed.
“She showed me empathy and made my life easier. She gave me the space and the time. I never felt rushed, I never felt pressured, if I was having a bad day, that was okay,” Peter said.
“It’s often the small things that you do that will make a huge difference.”
You will hear how the support of his manager had a long-term impact on Peter and motivated him to share his story to inspire others to support their colleagues.
#because of you was developed by SIRA’s Recovery@Work Reference Group - of which Peter is a member - to tell their experiences of how the workplace can support mental health recovery.