From The Crime Report:
In 2003, Mike Van Patten had come to the end of his road. His marriage of 19
years was over.
He was sitting on the floor in his kitchen, a partly empty bottle of gin by his side, tears running down his face and a loaded 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol in his hand.
He was ready to end his life as a longtime corrections officer at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem. He believed he could no longer cope with the intense, daily challenges of his job and the failures of his personal life.
Had his 17-year-old son Trevor not walked into the house and found his father about to shoot himself through head, Van Patten would not be the model corrections officer he is today.
He is a sergeant working at a minimum-security prison who has helped design
programs for his peers that include exercise, openly talking about stressful events and treating inmates with more respect.
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