It was 19 years this past January that Sgt. Julie Sudds sat across from me in the room at the Waterloo Regional Police on Hespeler Road in Cambridge. She had come to my home on many occasions due to the domestic abuse relationship I was in, and every time she came I was crying shaking and terrified that if I asked for help and placed charges it would make it 100 times worse.

19 Years ago as she sat across from me but this time was different, as I had gone to her. I had my complaint written out before she was sent in to see me. When she entered the room and read my complaint against my ex, she had a cold hard way about her, and I knew why...victims very rarely follow through with charges, ultimately wasting officers' time. But I was quick to correct her that this time I came to her, and this time I wasn't crying or shaking... I was done and ready to take him on head first with her help.

There isn't a January that goes by that I don't think of her and how Sgt. Sudds saved not only my life, but my then 1 year old's life. Things could have been so much worse, and possibly fatal, if not for her love and dedication to her badge and to not giving up on me. She made a huge difference in our lives.