Skip to content Behind the Uniforms: This Woman Faced Tragedy - And Turned It Into Life Dec 9 · 11 min ...more
Behind the Uniforms: This Woman Faced Tragedy - And Turned It Into Life
December 9, 2025 · 11 min
Trish organized the foundation Believe 208 after her husband took his own life following a long battle with PTSD. This episode is about a decade old and just as relevant today as it was then.
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December 9, 2025 · 11 min · Behind the Uniforms
Trish organized the foundation Believe 208 after her husband took his own life following a long battle with PTSD. This episode is about a decade old and just as relevant today as it was then. ...more Show the full description Show less Trish organized the foundation Believe 208 after her husband took his own life following a long battle with PTSD. This episode is about a decade old and just as relevant today as it was then.
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In this video 0:00 A Brother's Sacrifice and the Hidden Struggles3:00 Founding Believe 208: Turning Tragedy into Hope7:30 Healing Divisions and Offering Hope to the Struggling
A Brother's Sacrifice and the Hidden Struggles 0:00 Help was very hard to find. I didn't know who it was that I could trust. And eventually, Paul did get the help that he needed, but it wasn't enough.0:11 I do not know you, but I am your brother.0:14 You do not know me, but I am your protector.0:17 I will run into a burning building to save your life.0:19 No. I do not know your name. I will take a bullet for you.0:23 Though we've never met.0:24 I believe in duty and sacrifice of self. Self. Your family is my family.0:28 Is my family.0:30 Your life is my duty.0:37 What's going on guys? It is time for another episode of Behind the Uniforms. I am I am honored and privileged to have you join us today. I won't do you any justice by introducing you, so I'm gonna let everybody tell you0:48 who you are in a second. Guys, the way that this show works is that our guests share with us 2 stories, a positive story and a difficult story, something challenging that they've faced. So at the end of this particular0:59 episode, we're going to talk about an event that's coming up that, we're gonna make sure to launch this episode before that event. I would encourage all of you to take part in this. Today's gonna be a difficult story,1:09 and, you are not 1 in uniform yourself, but everybody in your family is. And I think that this is going to be 1 of the more impactful stories you've heard in a long time. So with that being said, tell everybody who you
1:21 are and and what brings you here.
1:22 Great. Thank you so much, Kyle. I appreciate this opportunity to come and share, my story and my late husband's story. I am the widow of East Hartford police officer, Paul Buchanan, who sadly,
1:34 passed away from suicide on March twelfth 2013. Paul was a veteran of the East Hartford Police Department for almost about 24 years. And sadly, during those years, as
1:46 you you can imagine, he struggled with some of the things that he had seen and was struggling with some depression and anxiety in the fall of 2012. So I had noticed some changes
1:58 in him. Help was very hard to find. I didn't know who it was that I could trust. And eventually, Paul did get the help that he needed, but it wasn't enough.
2:10 And Sorry.
2:14 Oh, it's okay.
2:17 So Paul died by suicide at the police department on March 12, 2013. And it's often a taboo subject and hard to talk about, but yet, I knew
2:30 that my boys and I were not gonna hide behind what happened to Paul. Paul had left us 2 notes, and in 1 of the notes, he had written make my death an issue and help others that are
2:41 like me. So we took that note to to heart. And what we're doing is in Paul's memory to make sure that no other families go through what our family had to go through and that no first
2:53 responders end up taking their lives because we can't have that anymore. And PTSD is real and it exists. And 1 day, the good part of the story is that we're making some
Founding Believe 208: Turning Tragedy into Hope
3:05 really good changes since 2013. Believe 2 0 8 was established in Paul's memory, and we worked together with Cable, the Connecticut Alliance to Benefit Law Enforcement, which is a
3:17 non profit organization. And we bring to light awareness, suicide awareness. We do trainings peer support trainings.
3:29 Believe 2 0 8, actually how it came to be was that 1 day when I was driving down the highway, and in the distance I could see a truck that grabbed my attention. I was praying and I was
3:41 crying, and I wasn't sure what I actually was to do with this great message, mission that Paul had left. And I see the words believe written on the back of the
3:53 truck. You could hardly make it out. And at that moment, I knew that's all that I had to do was just believe. I believe that I could take this tragedy and turn it into
4:04 something positive, something good in Paul's memory. I also believe that it's something that I can't do alone, that I need the help of of others to make this
4:16 happen. I also believe that post traumatic stress, depression, anxiety is real and it's out there and it exists. And we need to help those that are struggling, and I
4:28 know they're struggling because they've told me so. They've written to me. I've logged my journey and and written about it on law enforcement today. And we've done some really good things though, and I'm happy to say
4:40 that the suicide deaths are slowly going down. The police chiefs in Connecticut since Paul's death have come together and made an officer wellness committee, which is great.
4:52 And, awareness is happening. And, I had this dream about putting together this 5 ks, this event to raise funds so that we could help our officers,
5:04 our firefighters, EMS, and even our corrections officers and military members. They're often the, forgotten ones.
5:11 Absolutely.
5:12 I wasn't sure how I was gonna put it all together and some people had said to me, Trish, I don't know if people are gonna come. What if you lose money? But, yet, I had to believe. I knew that if I put it together, that
5:22 they would come. And so that first year in 20 14, we had 500 people that came out.
5:29 Wow. First year.
5:30 The first year. And we raised 23000 dollars that year.
5:35 That's incredible.
5:36 And 100 percent of those funds go back to the officers, the first responders, 100 percent.
5:43 That's incredible.
5:44 Through cable, we provide peer support, we provide training to, therapists and counselors so that they can understand the culture that law enforcement officers work in,
5:56 each and every day, and the stressors that are unique to their profession. I'm happy to say that we funded a mind fitness and resiliency
6:08 workshop. It's a whole weekend and we've had 35 officers and military members that come out for it. We've had it held at, retreat center in Madison and also in West
6:19 Hartford. They stay for the whole weekend. We have the uniform services program from Brattleboro Retreat that comes out and provides the training for them. And all we've received are positive
6:32 feedback. They take what they've learned, they bring it back to their personal life, and they bring it to their job where they share it.
6:38 That's incredible. So let me ask you this. Right now in society, we see a lot of, a lot of divisiveness in America, especially when it comes to the topic of law enforcement. To to the people
6:50 that you see out there who are hating on our first responders, how do we bridge that gap? What what message can we give to them? Because I don't think that they see the side of it. I don't think that
7:02 they see the the the pain that families experience. You know, we saw the sergeant who was killed in Texas who who was out there just trying to save lives.
7:12 Right.
7:13 What message can we give to them?
7:15 Our first responders are our helpers. They're our heroes. They're not the enemies. They're out to help us. Each and every day they go out out there and they put their lives on the line and all we want is for them to come
7:27 home safely to us. And, you can't even imagine the stressors that they face each and every day. And, all they wanna do is help. And, like my like my husband, all he wanted to do was go out
Healing Divisions and Offering Hope to the Struggling
7:38 there and help everyone. But sadly, he carried the the hearts and the things that he saw over the years. Very they have hearts behind their badges.
7:50 I'm gonna ask you a difficult question. And if this is too much, we we can kinda come back to it. All across the country there are people who are experiencing unfortunately what you and your family have experienced.
8:02 And you mentioned what a taboo subject it is. People don't wanna talk about it. I think many people feel alone in in this. What message can you give to other people that have experienced this as well?
8:14 Well, I would like them to have hope. There is definitely help out there. They need to know that they are not alone, that we actually believe 2 0 8, the Connecticut Alliance
8:26 to Benefit Law Enforcement, Safe Call Now, they're all to be trusted. Find somebody that you can trust, whether it's a peer in your department, perhaps it is a friend, a co
8:37 worker, chaplains. I didn't even realize that there were police chaplains out there that you could call. And, find a therapist that specializes in
8:50 the law enforcement culture. They're there and hopefully by bringing awareness and talking about it and providing programs, we are gonna take it more and more out in the open and
9:01 help our first responders that are struggling. But most importantly, they need to know that they're not alone, and I know that because they've written to me. And it can't be a taboo subject anymore, and officer wellness
9:12 has to be in the forefront.
9:14 Awesome. If people wanna take part, how can they find it?
9:17 Oh my gosh. Please go to our Facebook page, believe 2 0 8, Run for the Brave and Finest. And it's going to be held on Sunday, March 20 fourth at the Knights of Columbus at 18 31
9:29 Main Street in East Hartford, Connecticut. And, if you can't come, run wherever you are, or walk and pause memory. If you have a loved 1 that has passed away
9:40 from suicide, I have a memory table that I set up with sadly, there are several pictures and I'd be happy to add your loved one's picture to the to the table so that they are are
9:52 not forgotten.
9:53 Awesome. And,
9:54 we need to remember them and honor them because they have done their job.
10:00 Awesome. Well, we're gonna help get word out there. Our partners over law enforcement today are also helping the distribution. So hopefully, we can bring a lot of eyeballs and and really pay tribute to your late
10:10 husband's memory. So, normally, I cheers everybody, but
10:14 Thank you. Thank you so much, Kyle. I appreciate it very much.
10:17 Guys, do us a favor. The only way we can get word out there is by you, all of you. So please share this episode, and god bless. God bless America.
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