Members of Pasadena’s Fire and Police Departments gathered at Brick City Gym Thursday to spar and prepare for Saturday’s sparring event, “Fire vs. Police: Battle for Mental Health Sparring Demonstration.”
As Scott Henderson, firefighter paramedic and Battle for Mental Health Founder, explained Thursday, “We are coming together for our “Battle for Mental Health,’ event, which is a boxing demonstration that we hold every year in Pasadena. We try to get first responders together to celebrate each other and celebrate our cause. What we’re trying to do is increase suicidal awareness and mental health awareness.”
Scott explained that his organization has partnered with Next Rung, a national mental health support group, to address the ever increasing mental health needs of first responders, and their families.
Pasadena firefighter Charlie Brown, a CEO of Next Rung, also explained that, “It’s been quite the journey. When we first started with just the two of us answering phone calls and text messages to our health text line and seeing where it’s now gone in the last six years with the pure team that spans across the country and being able to help hundreds and hundreds of first responders all It’s been truly remarkable and something that were very proud of because he said if we could only help one and we would’ve done our job and we’ve been able to get hundreds.
“They’re looking for someone to talk to,” Brown continued, “someone that can kind of help navigate them through the situations that they’re facing so just to be a small part of that, to hear different stories of people and where they started and where they finish and getting back to normal,is so rewarding.”
“Fire vs. Police: Battle for Mental Health Sparring Demonstration,” kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 21, with open sparring sessions for participants from various gyms in Pasadena and surrounding areas until 5:30 p.m. The featured sparring demonstrations involving first responders will begin at 7 p.m.
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