WITH THIN BLUE LINE TO BRAZIL
Four police officers with PTSD were selected by Thin Blue Line (TBL) to participate in a rehabilitation trip to Brazil, led by Niels Christian Holmgaard Opstrup and his Brazilian wife, Camila
"Thin Blue Line" is a global concept that most often represents solidarity with and support for police officers – in terms of the challenges they face and encounter in carrying out their duties.
There is no common, worldwide organisation behind the TBL concept, which is interpreted and used in different ways in many countries.
Over the years, Niels has hosted approximately 800 guests. These guests have been a mix of veterans from the armed forces, regular civilian guests, and several police officers. Since 2022, TBL has sent 3 groups of 5 men to Niels, who is a trained engineer and a veteran himself from the Balkans. Additionally, Niels is a former bodybuilder/strength trainer, so he has extensive insight into both training and diet.
I see the core benefit of the trip as being the many activities that contribute to personal development and to strengthening one's network through new friendships. Meeting like-minded ex-police officers with whom one can relate is a huge advantage. It's difficult to find civilians who can understand the daily challenges that PTSD presents. Down here, we all understand each other, and we develop together. The network created on the trip must be maintained and expanded at home in Denmark, so that in the long term, we have fewer lonely colleagues fighting their battles alone.
During the stay, the focus is on training, healthy eating, and optimal sleep. A typical day is structured around 1 hour of morning cardio training, breakfast, free time until lunch, intense Tabata (or other circuit training), free time until strength training at 6 PM, dinner followed by socializing and relaxed togetherness. Participants are naturally tired around 9-10 PM, when we hit the hay.
In addition to the daily training sessions, there are several trips out into nature and the countryside. These include horse riding in a large national park, overnight stays in one large communal tent in the wilderness, boat trips with snorkeling among sea turtles, rappelling in fantastic surroundings, jungle trekking, and enduro-cross in the jungle, among other activities.
