Local 600 Disability Liaison, a position she pioneered with the help
of Cop2Cop Director Cherie Castellano and State PBA President Pat
Colligan.
“Our worlds came together in the mission of trying to help
wounded officers,” said Castellano of the trio that is forging a new
“Line of Duty Woundings” (LODW) campaign, hoping to become
an NJ State PBA staple initiative.
“Pat is great at putting people together to make things more
powerful,” Castellano continued. “He reached out to Debbie and
connected us, and she immediately jumped on it. She has connected with our Cop2Cop peer staff, read legislation and learned about
suicide prevention, and got up to date with the work we’ve done so
far. She’s been terrific.”
Due to the specific nature of her injury, LaSalle has a particular
interest in helping other LODWs with brain injuries. Her first such
encounter occurred at a 2012 fundraiser for Rahway Local 31 Member John Donofrio, an officer who was severely injured and left in
a coma following a motorcycle accident.
“I had gone to that fundraiser and felt like I needed to speak to
(Donofrio’s) father,” LaSalle recalled. “I didn’t know what to tell him
but I said I too was in a coma and there’s still hope. After that
fundraiser, I felt like I needed to do something.”
That “something” is helping fellow LODWs understand their
roles in life, a feat now possible that LaSalle herself is on path of
finding her own:
“I honestly believe that I finally have found peace with my accident,” LaSalle acknowledged. “I am a new person on a different
path and I’m just starting to understand what my purpose is on this
Earth, and it’s not about just me. It’s all the other wounded officers
who need to be heard.” d
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NEW JERSEY COPS
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MAY 2015