For St. Albert’s Shelly MacInnis Wynn, seeing a yellow Kleenex box can instantly transport her back to the worst week of her life.
MacInnis Wynn lost her husband Const. David Wynn in January 2015. Wynn was investigating a stolen truck at the then-Apex Casino and was shot by Shaun Rehn, who was out on bail.
After being shot, Wynn was brought to the hospital, where he lived another four days.
MacInnis Wynn was with her husband for the final four days, sobbing and pulling Kleenex out of yellow box, given to her by a friend.
Years later, seeing a yellow Kleenex box can bring her back to those moments in the hospital, causing her to once again fall to the floor sobbing and reliving the painful last days of her husband’s life.
“So many emotions, so many memories, that are forever etched in my brain and heart, pull me back to a moment in time just as though I was reliving it all over again,” MacInnis Wynn said.
“It caught my eye and I froze. It was as if someone had stopped time and my hands, eyes, body and my entire being were hurled back into a time and I was swept away into a swirl of uncontrollable emotions. I grabbed the box, held it close to my chest and just sat on the floor and let the tears flow.”
Five years have passed since Wynn was shot and killed and MacInnis Wynn is now sharing her struggles of PTSD with the community.
In her first local speaking engagement since her husband’s death, MacInnis Wynn told the St. Albert Rotary Club on Friday morning at the Sturgeon Golf and Country Club about her struggles with mental health and her fight to get the RCMP and federal government to fund mental health supports for families of RCMP officers.
Since her husband passed away, MacInnis Wynn has advocated for herself and other RCMP families to get their mental health care covered. After Wynn’s death, his family was left to pay for all of their own mental health care out of pocket.
“Over those five years I’ve had to do lots of fighting … the most important thing I’ve had to deal with is my mental health. In doing that I realized there were so many other people, not just the surviving spouses and their family but also active members and their families were not getting the help they needed,” MacInnis Wynn said
"We are having families that are not being taken care of."
It took four-and-a-half years after her husband’s death to finally win a battle with the federal government to cover the costs of her family’s therapy and the therapies of all RCMP families who have lost a loved one in the line of duty.
During her battle to get support from the RCMP and federal government, MacInnis Wynn realized just how many families needed support. The advocate partnered with Val Connell, who has been wanting to create a resource centre for families since her husband first joined the RCMP 12 years ago.
The duo teamed up and have now launched the Canadian Police Family Alliance, a resource centre for families of RCMP officers, modelled after the Canadian Forces military family resource centres.
“We want to make sure these children and these families are taken care of because they can’t help their spouses unless they are able to take care of themselves,” Wynn said.
MacInnis Wynn serves on the board of the not-for-profit and said they are currently trying to fundraise and are also looking for volunteers.
For more information about the Canadian Police Family Alliance visit cpfa-afpc.ca.
