I knew we were about to crash so I braced myself hard against the door frame and placed my hand on the release straps of my harness,” she said. Only the highest of praise goes out to the author and publishers for bringing us this wonderful story that im positive you will find very interesting. I really hope the author writes more books as I would really love to read more. I also want to thank her for her service to our country. NetGalley, Claire Lavin Please note, some parts of this episode include discussion about mental health and wellbeing issues. If you feel you may need to reach out for support in the UK : It's a powerful story, with a mix of Irish humour, strong news on the then RAF approach to personal issues raised by those in combat and a brutally honest finale. Go buy a copy today." Helicopter International - January-February 2023

Commenting on this year’s campaign and winner, Alidad Moghaddam, CEO of Defence Discount Service, said: Liz sounds like an absolute delight, or should I just call her Gloria? That helmet label really made me laugh, lots! Anyone who’s lost someone to suicide can kind of hear my story and realise they couldn’t have done anything to help. I [was] so far down the PTSD route that nobody could stop me. I think it’s an important message for people who have been affected by suicide to know that. That’s the questions [that] are always left after suicide, isn’t it? What could I have done to help them? How could I have stopped them doing that? She survived and went into the Veterans Mental Health care system to help her deal with her demons and finally lay the images she had seen on the battlefield to rest. Waking in intensive care two days later, McConaghy's feelings had completely shifted; she realised she didn't want to die. With the support of the veterans' system, McConaghy began her recovery journey, recognising how crucial that support network was to her survival.Liz summarised her experiences with mental health and shared her tips for those who are suffering, and those who know someone else who is suffering. Just seconds from smashing into the ground, the co-pilot managed to regain control and the Chinook soared into the sky. They had escaped death by a hair’s breadth. Books like this are so important because you simply never know how much good they will do once they have been set free into the world. You just have to trust that those who need it, will find it and that it will make a positive difference. The truth [is] none. The crewmen never once made me feel as though I was an outsider or special for being female. But I wasn’t a trailblazer either, there were crew gals before me, and plenty came after me and will continue to do so.”

As a resillience speaker and mental health speaker, Liz’s story offers hope to those who have also found themselves in the darkest places and are looking for the tools within themselves to begin rebuilding a pathway to a new life. The book is an honest and humorous account of Liz’s ‘ best of times and worst of times’ and how her experiences flying on the Chinook have changed and moulded her into the woman she has become. Serving on MERT, she was tasked with recovering wounded soldiers and witnessed some of the most horrifying scenes of human suffering. She is now living in Basingstoke near the airbase she worked at, RAF Odiham — where the Chinooks are based — after spending a total of 17-and-a-half years flying with the RAF’s Chinook fleet.

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The bad stuff is the same stuff that everyone else goes through, not so much the PTSD and mental health.” Because it’s so hard to identify a firing point where the rounds are coming from, you just have to stand your ground at the mini-gun and pray that there’s a little Ready Brek glow surrounding you.” I think if you want that extra ‘ohh, isn’t she amazing? Look, she’s the girl doing this job,’ you’re almost saying that they’re not capable of it in the first place.’

McConaghy’s Chinook, despite taking her to the worst war zones, made her feel safe, even though her daily reality was filled with danger. The book touches on, but is not dominated by, the theme of women in the armed forces. This is a topic that has been constantly in the UK news following a series of sex-related scandals. But McConaghy is pragmatic, explaining that in her experience, the men have never treated her or the only other female on her squadron any differently.Liz finished counselling with us in early 2022, she says “we all have good days and bad days, but life has been pretty good since.”

From dodging bullets to saving soldiers and witnessing the brutality and loss of war, Liz discusses how she found herself bringing the battlefield home, despite her fighting days being over. When I went to Iraq, I was the youngest aircrew member. Not only that, but I was limited combat ready. You learn to fly on a little helicopter, which is the Griffon (training helicopter) and then you get posted to whichever helicopter type you want to go on, and for me, that was always the Chinook.” Hopefully, Liz McConaghy’s exposure of her own experiences will serve to help others. She tells her story well and it will be an ‘eye opener’ for those who have had little or no exposure to the harsher consequences inherent in service life. RAF Historical Society Journal From 2007 McConaghy crewed the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT), a high-octane M.A.S.H-style air ambulance service in which a Chinook was on constant readiness at Bastion to fly to the middle of the battlefield and rescue seriously wounded soldiers. On her busiest day of operations in 2008, she and her crew flew 14 separate sorties – including one where five British soldiers had been killed at a forward operating base. Liz turned to writing both poetry and her autobiography following a tough battle with PTSD years after leaving the service, in the hope it may help others with their mental health.I requested this book because of my love of aircraft and in particular Chinooks. This was a great insight and a really interesting read. NetGalley, Karena Freeman We are joined by Liz McConaghy . Liz is from a small town in County Down and spent a total of seventeen years flying with the RAF’s Chinook Force. However, her most significant honour of all her duties was serving on the Medical Emergency Response Team, or MERT, flying ambulance as it was more commonly known. This involved recovering wounded soldiers from the battlefield, often under fire.