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IN THE LINE OF FIRE - The Road To Recovery Post-Parodi
“I have been trying to get back to that
but you can’t. When I sat in the back
of the police car that night I entered
the vehicle as the old Daryl Green and
when I moved out to chase Parodi,
I was a different Daryl Green – the
shooting has affected every facet of
my life and relationships.’’
“I now take a lot of pleasure in the
small things in life; I surround myself
with positive happy people, enjoy
good food, and appreciate things like
a scenic view. I am very social now. I
run to de-stress and keep fit, have
re-gained my independence and
self-confidence, and continue with my
passion for travel.’’
Sen-Sgt Green also received good
news last month that the
Attorney-General will finally move on
an ex-gratia payment for the shooting
- five years after his WorkCover case
was closed and he was eligible for
compensation.
• The suicide note
“It is yet to be resolved. Because
Parodi committed suicide, I am
technically not entitled to criminal
compensation, so we have to seek an
ex-gratia payment,’’ he said.
“I want this finalised, so I can put all
this behind me.’’
Doctor Peter Parodi has broken
a decade-long silence to tell of the
burden he carries daily and how he
feels partly responsible for the actions
of his only son.
“My attitude of how I endeavor to live
with it is by not thinking about it. It’s
a burden to carry and I will carry it for
the rest of my life…it’s a burden you
learn to live with and cope with, and
how I do it is by not thinking about it,
and you do think about it from day to
day,’’ said Dr Parodi in an interview
with the Journal.
“Things happen which remind you of
Nigel, and the easiest way to cope is
to think about another subject until it
goes away. I remember Nigel
saying when we had this terrific pork
we bought in Nambour, ‘God, it was
so good I could eat the string’. Every
time I eat roast with string I think of
him.’’
Dr Parodi, a scientist who studies the
causes of cancer and heart disease,
said if he tried to analyse why his son
shot the officers it would “drive him to
the nuthouse’’.
In the aftermath of the shooting, Dr
Parodi learned through media
reports that his son was sexually
abused by a counsellor, Kevin Lynch,
while a high school student at
Brisbane Boys Grammar.
“I accept he was abused by Lynch.
He was a happy-go-lucky caring
schoolboy until he went to Grammar,
and that’s when things went started to
deteriorate. You could trace it back to
Lynch in hindsight. At the time when
he was having problems, we went to
six different psychiatrists about why
he dropped out of school, but nothing
ever turned up about the abuse,’’ Dr
Parodi said.
Up until then, the Parodis were a
close family who holidayed together
regularly.
Dr Parodi did not want to elaborate
further on his son’s life.
“I don’t want to think about it
anymore. I accept some of the blame
but that is not going to help anyone.
It happened and it’s regrettable for all
those concerned,’’ he said.
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Queensland Police Union Journal May 2010