SUSSEX BOROUGH — A Vietnam veteran from Sussex Borough is doing
his part to help a responder to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting get disability benefits for post traumatic stress
disorder.
Jack Cunningham, 63, has collected more than 7,000
online signatures toward his goal of 10,000 for a petition in support of Thomas Bean, a Newtown police officer who was diagnosed
with PTSD after the mass shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in December 2012.
Although Cunningham does not personally know Bean, he has dealt with PTSD himself and plans to take the printed petition
to police in Connecticut once he reaches the goal.
“If
I can act as an Internet go-between for the little bit I can, that is what I will do,” Cunningham said.
Bean’s story was initially reported by the media in November when he was
in danger of being fired and losing his long-term disability benefits. Bean did not return to work after the shooting and
the police department wanted to fire him since he was considered “permanently disabled.”
In December, Police Chief Michael Kehoe rescinded his recommendation to fire Bean and allowed him to remain on long-term
disability, according to the Associated Press.
However, there
is still a dispute over how long he can receive those benefits. Town officials say two years, but the police union says 13
years until Bean’s eligible for retirement, the Associated Press said. A lawsuit may be filed.
Cunningham’s son saw a news story on Bean’s potential firing in November and mistakenly thought it referred
to Newton, N.J., rather than Newtown, Conn. He told his father about it and Cunningham immediately latched onto the issue,
despite it being nearly a hundred miles away.
Cunningham launched the petition campaign on causes.com, an online campaigning platform that allows members to raise money for nonprofits,
collect signatures and organize campaigns.
Even after Cunningham
found out that Bean would not be fired, he decided to continue the petition in protest of Bean’s benefits potentially
being dropped after two years.
“I’ll keep pushing
the petition because it is based on him getting his long-term disability benefits,” Cunningham said. “To force
him to drag this to court will be hell for him and his family.”
David Spielman, an organizer at causes.com who worked with Cunningham on the petition, said the website can help
someone reach a much broader audience than their own network of friends, family and co-workers.
“The individuals are connecting to a broad community who want to take action with you,” he said. “Rather
than just sitting down and putting something out on the Internet, you have that built-in structure all over the world and
the country.”
Cunningham is very active on causes.com
and has started more than 300 campaigns.
He is especially passionate
about issues related to PTSD because he suffers from it.
PTSD
is a type of anxiety disorder that results from extreme emotional trauma. The National Mental Health Institute says PTSD develops
after a terrifying ordeal, such as a war, rape, kidnapping, child abuse, car accidents and natural disasters.
Cunningham was in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in the Vietnam War in 1970.
He later got a job in data processing and went undiagnosed with PTSD for 12 years.
He remembers sometimes closing his office door to look at pictures of the village in Vietnam he was stationed in.
After about 12 years, he started going to therapy and was diagnosed. He had symptoms
such as intense dreams, anxiety, flashbacks and catastrophic thoughts.
“It is bad enough when you have PTSD, but when you have to break through the stigma, it is worse,” he
said. “It prevents people from coming forward to get help.”
Cunningham hopes the campaign will bring awareness to PTSD and make it easier for others suffering to get help and
the benefits.
“It took an extremely brave man to reach
out and be willing to admit he has (PTSD),” Cunningham said. “Some of these other officers in the same office
may be suffering various degrees of it and are just terrified to say it, but they are waiting to see what is happening with
him.”
