"There was more to Robin than his injuries": Remembering the life of Sgt. Robin Easey

From Ottawa Citizen

Robin Easey, a Nepean police constable shot and profoundly injured after interrupting an armed robbery in September 1984 upended conventional medical wisdom again and again throughout his rehabilitation

Robin Easey and his wife Glennis in 1985. PHOTO BY OTTAWA CITIZEN ARCHIVES

In September 1984, the citizens of Ottawa were gripped by a true-life crime drama.

Nepean police constable Robin Easey, a father of two young boys, was in hospital, fighting for his life. Another officer was seriously wounded with gunshots to his legs and face.

Both officers had been shot after interrupting an about-to-unfold armoured car robbery outside the Bayshore Shopping Centre on the morning of Sept. 1. A manhunt was on for two escaped suspects. A third was dead from a police bullet.

In hospital, Easey’s wife, Glennis, was told her husband was “all but gone” and was asked if she would consent to donating his organs. A neurosurgeon, however, said he saw “a spark,” and doctors ultimately decided to remove the bullet from Easey’s brain. For weeks, Easey remained in a coma. Doctors told Glennis there was only a one-per-cent chance he would ever again be aware of his surroundings.

But Easey defied those odds, emerged from hospital, spent more than a year in New York State rehabilitation centre and returned to his family in August 1986. He saw his children grow up, passed his sergeant’s exam and worked relentlessly to walk again.

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