| Never-say-die sergeant proves doctors wrong |
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SERGEANT Samantha Barlow has a simple method to overcome any thoughts of how she was beaten and left for dead in a Kings Cross street - and forced to endure two painful years of rehabilitation. ''I block it all out. I aim, fix it and move on. I get one thing done, work on the next, get that one done and keep progressing.'' Yesterday she continued her progression to recovery by returning to work with the police where she will serve three days a week with the highway patrol. Her goal is to resume full operational duties with the force. ''From day one I always intended to rebuild myself and come straight back and get some normality,'' she said. Her return came 22 months after she was attacked while walking to work at Kings Cross police station early one morning in May 2009. The mother of two was struck twice in the face with a brick before being hit twice on the back of the head while lying on the ground. Her attacker, Roderick Holohan, a heroin addict, then dragged her into a park and stole her handbag. Holohan was sentenced to a minimum 11½ years' jail in December. Sergeant Barlow, 36, had part of her skull shattered and also suffered a broken nose, deep cuts and a crushed hand. When woken from an induced coma she was told by doctors she would not work again. ''If you want to piss my wife off, tell her she can't do something and she'll prove you wrong,'' her husband and fellow officer, Inspector Laurence Barlow, said. The couple, who began their relationship after working together during the Cronulla riots in 2005, are now based at Surry Hills station, a short distance from where the attack took place. They did briefly consider moving from Sydney to start again but decided if they did so they wanted it to be on their terms and not because of the actions of a violent criminal. ''We thought about it but at the end of the day I love the city, the people and being around everything,'' Sergeant Barlow said. ''I don't want to be a recluse. I want our kids to grow up and have everything available to them. If you hide then he's ruined you and I won't have that.'' |
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