A short time ago, Indiana University Northwest (IUN) Officer, Eddie Morrison, was attacked while working off-duty as a security guard in Chicago. Nonetheless, Morrison stood guard despite the wounds and protected his fellow employees.
Morrison is a hero for standing guard despite his injuries, but he is not without his scars.
What happened that evening would have driven most people to the path of anger or vengeance.
But not Morrison. Instead he sees the situation as an opportunity to find hope, strength, and learning from his scars of the past.
“I have always grown up to be positive in every situation,” Morrison told IIMM. “Sure, I still have my demons from that night, but my mom taught me that everything happens for a reason, and what happened to me, I believe, happened for a reason.”
That reason, the reason Morrison is now committed to becoming stronger in his job and in life, he says, is to teach others and his fellow officers at IUN about how they can survive in a similar situation.
“I’ve always been trained to be ready for the fight of your life, you just never know when that’s going to be. But it was that direction that gave me the will to fight for my life that day and I want to use my experience to help teach people how to react if they find themselves in a fight for your life situation.”
And when Morrison returns to work in about a month after recovering from his injuries, he says a willing and loyal IUN police force is ready to help him achieve his goals.
“I talk to them [IUN Police] everyday. They’re all like family to me and want to help me out however they can. So when I return to work I am going to put together some presentations to help them learn from this experience.”
And it’s this family-like atmosphere within the force that Morrison hopes he can spread to the community when he returns to duty.
“I am looking forward to getting back to work and serving the community,” Morrison added. “We are working to get out in this community that we care about and building trust from the residents.”
“Police work is a lot more than just handing out tickets.”
After all, Morrison says, it’s the community of Northwest Indiana that has helped him get through this situation.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone in Northwest Indiana for their positive messages. It’s been the prayers that have gotten me through this.”
