Wife of Injured Bourne Police Officer Creates Website to Help First Responder Families

COURTESY OF CLAUDINE WRIGHTER
Officer Jared MacDonald

BOURNE – First responder Jared MacDonald suffered a shot to the back at an incident in Bourne last year, after a gunman killed one female and injured another. The injury nearly paralyzed MacDonald and forced him to learn to walk all over again.

Meanwhile, his wife, Kerry, said she felt helpless during the recovery period. The two had children of their own; but after the incident, they also had medical bills to pay, on top of the physical and emotional challenges which she said affected the whole family.

The ordeal is what Kerry MacDonald said inspired her to create a new website called 1stHelp.net, a resource aimed at providing families of first responders with mental, financial and other support services in the face of crises.

“I wanted to offer families easy, accessible, confidential and free help, because I found that really difficult to find,” MacDonald said. “They don’t have to click all over the place, because when you’re in a crisis, you don’t want to have to do that.”

MacDonald collaborated on the project with Karen Solomon, author of The Price They Pay and Hearts Beneath the Badge.

Visitors to the site will be prompted to answer an introductory question: “are you in an immediate crisis?” If they answer “yes,” they will then be directed to a 24-hour crisis referral service.

Otherwise, they will be brought to a screen which will ask confidential questions to match them with appropriate resources.

The collaborators are seeking charitable donations in order to maintain the website. Contact [email protected] for more information.

1stHelp.net is expected to go live on June 1^st.