Hello,

My name is Troy Mackaway and I served as a New South Wales police officer for all of four years which ended in a breakdown, stress, anxiety and depression. I was given no support from the police management and was the subject of lies by a Duty Officer resulting in my HOD claim being declined.

This is the second incarnation of the hurt on duty website. My first was in place as a way to show the numerous other serving members who suffer in silence that they are not alone. I also had the vision at the time of writing my story and the stories of others into a novel to further heighten awareness of the issues faced on a daily basis by members of the police and other emergency services personnel. I left the police force on 27th August 2007 and since that time I still struggle with my depression and anxiety with each day bringing it's own challenges.

Now in the second version I have completely redesigned this site changing everything except my story. In the last few months I have continued to hear stories of police suffering mental health breakdowns and of the continued stress in the police. Do I think this will ever change? No, not unless management takes a realistic approach to the issue and broadens their support networks. They also need to provide options for police who are made victims of those senior police who would use them as nothing more than a target for their own political gains within the structure of the force.

So.... Why is this site here?

Because you are not alone in your suffering!

There are many others who have been through similar circumstances and many more than continue to go through those same things. Each day dreading the thought of going to work, each night feeling so anxious that they have difficulty sleeping and may even be physically ill.

The reason for this site as my first version showed me is that it provides people an insight into what is happening. It provides those suffering with a hope that there are others who understand. And in this incarnation I will be adding links and information to support networks and useful people who can help you.

So please take a moment to read my story and the update, then if you like, stop by the forums and post a bit about yourself, ask questions or even email me. I received countless emails from the first site and I must apologise profoundly to those who I failed to reply to. I went through some very dark times and pretty much dropped out of sight, deciding that I needed step away from this site and any thoughts of pursuing the police force and Allianz for the compensation for failing to support me when I needed it most.