Paramedic Nick - "Since I Walked Away"

“I remember shutting my locker door and then my intuition, my gut instinct, was that was the last time I was going to shut my locker, and I had this like really uneasy feeling of, ‘Ooh, that was really weird. Why did I think that?’ Because that’s not normally a thought that would come to my mind.” – Paramedic Nick

You signed up for this. It’s a phrase that seems to be pervasive among fire departments and police stations across the country – a mantra uttered to justify witnessing the incomprehensible and being asked to fix things that sometimes just can’t be fixed. For Nick, it also served as a message that complemented lessons from his childhood and convinced him to repress the complex emotions he was experiencing as a first responder. This, along with the loss of friends to line-of-duty deaths and suicides and the overwhelming weight of the daily decisions he had to make, led to anger, outbursts, insomnia, nightmares, and the eventual realization that he could take his desire to help others in a much different direction.

Join former paramedic/firefighter and host Phil Klein as he shares the mic with Nick, a former paramedic/firefighter turned best-selling author, podcast host, and founder of the brand Building Grit. Nick has made it his mission to use the insight he gained from his 18-year career and his journey fighting PTSD to help other first responders with their mental health battles. By sharing his experiences, Nick hopes to empower others to tell their own stories and contribute to a greater dialogue around the importance of mental health.

Click here to learn more about Nick's work and to purchase his book, Building Grit: How to fight the fires of PTSD and come out stronger on the other side.

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