Living Alongside envisions a future where every family affected by a first responder’s psychological injury is recognised, included and appropriately supported within systems of care, public policy and community.
A future where no family is left to carry the impact of their loved ones service alone, and where the wellbeing of first responder families is a shared responsibility across government, services and society.
Our mission
Living Alongside exists to ensure that families impacted by a first responder’s workplace psychological injury are recognised, supported, and not left to manage alone.
Grounded in lived experience and guided by a commitment to systemic change, we deliver tailored resources, peer connection, and policy advocacy to improve outcomes for these families.
-
Sarah U'Brien
Sarah U’Brien is a community recovery and disaster resilience specialist with a passion for social justice, equity and doing the work that matters. She’s also mum to two teenage daughters who keep her grounded, busy and cheering from the sidelines; whether it’s soccer, or dance.
Sarah’s husband, Matt, served as a Sergeant with NSW Police and later with Fire + Rescue NSW. In 2022, he was medically retired following a workplace diagnosis of PTSD, depression, anxiety and moral injury.
“When the job took its toll, everything changed. The system wasn’t built to catch us and we fell hard, and we fell alone.”
While working full time in disaster resilience Sarah had to become her husband’s advocate, carer and case manager, while protecting their girls from the ripple effects of his injury. Her lived experience navigating a system that was often adversarial, opaque and unkind led her to speak out.
“Families like ours carry a weight no one sees. We share the impact of our loved one’s injury, while also enduring their own vicarious trauma impacts and yet, we’re invisible in the policy, the services, the conversations.”
Today, Sarah channels that experience into advocacy for trauma-informed care, proper support and policy reform for first responders and their families. Through sharing her family’s story, she hopes others feel seen and that decision makers finally start to listen. -
Lauren Marks
Lauren Marks is a health professional turned educator with a love of learning, bringing people together and leaving something better than when found. When not running around or crafternoon-ing with her children, you’ll find her still running around but at the beach or with her beautiful big family.
Lauren was a health professional whilst her husband served with NSW Police for over a decade. They had two children, aged 3 and 5, when her husband was hit at full force with Complex PTSD.
“It was like a switch was flicked and my husband was just gone. He was physically there, but everything else, gone”
It wasn’t long before she made the decision to let go of her hard-won career to both shield her children from the impact of her husband’s injury, and ensure he could focus solely on recovery.
“If you’ve witnessed or experienced the impact of a psychological injury, you’ll understand – this was not a difficult decision to make. Painful, so painful, but not difficult. Something was going to give, and I’ll be damned if it was going to be my family. I was determined that he would get through this, and the kids were not going to be collateral damage”
Several years on and she is proud to say he is doing better than ever.
“Not a journey I would wish on my worst enemy but we’re mostly intact. Some days more, some days less but he is here, he can feel happiness again, and he is here”
Lauren is determined to use her experience to raise awareness of the impact, and advocate for much needed support for families living alongside their loved ones psychological injury.
“Help us, so we can best help them”