PTSD doesn’t have to stay with you forever. It’s a chapter in my book, it’s not an anchor that I wear around my legs forever or a new label that I have to have forever,” she said. “I’ve met so many people via social media who tag themselves as the broken soldier or the forgotten veteran. But just like anything in your body, the bone you break or whatever, with the right time and methods you can heal, and you can move on and recover. I really want to get the message out – just because I had PTSD does not mean I have to have it forever.”

‎True Blue Conversations Podcast on Apple Podcasts

Starting from such a young age, Liz reflected on where it all started, going with her brother to his BARB test. BARB stands for British Army Recruit Battery and is a computer-based psychometric test someone must take before they can serve in the Army, to decide if they are suitable. When asked what she missed most about the military, McConaghy placed an emphasis on “the people, the banter, the chats” but also said she misses “the smell of the aircraft”. Xtended can also be found on Apple Podcasts, the Google Podcast app, Spotify and wherever else you normally listen to podcasts. It tells me a lot about how my own mental state was by this time of the campaign as even this didn’t make me bat an eyelid or flinch,” she recalls.

Liz McConaghy

Born in New Zealand, Sonya relocated to Australia with her parents and three siblings in 1987. Sonya grew up in Logan and relocated to the Gold Coast in 2001. After completing a double degree, a Bachelor of Arts in Justice Studies and a Bachelor of Laws Sonya practiced law for a short time and found her true passion in policing in 2003. She has been a Queensland Police Officer ever since, working at Southport, Runaway Bay, and eventually finding her passion, and fulfilling a lifelong dream becoming a detective with the Child Protection and Investigation Unit. Sonya was widowed at 32 years old and has had to adjust to life on her own, as a single mother since. Losing her husband Police Officer Damian Leeding who was killed in 2011 trying to stop an armed hold up at the Pacific Pines Tavern has taught Sonya many valuable lessons, but most importantly has allowed her resilience to shine through, which is also evident in her work in the Child Protection Unit. Sonya’s debut book, ‘Blue Widow’ is the journey of how she navigated life as a police officer after love and loss. It is a journey of resilience and the discovery that trusting in yourself can be the very thing that saves you. This story will introduce you to the humans behind the badge. When Sonya is not protecting vulnerable victim’s, you will find her in mum mode with her two children Hudson and Grace. Sonya has a passion for baking, it soothes her soul. Sonya’s downtime is spent at her local F45 gym or out walking with Labradoodles Elliot and Amalie. Sonya is also a keen camper and with the assistance of her 1968 Viscount vintage caravan, ‘Felicia’ manages to find peace and quiet at new locations around Southeast Queensland. So, how did McConaghy end up in such desperate circumstances? She had seen some terrible things on deployment during her service, not least flying on the medical flights recovering badly injured and dead soldiers from the battlefield. Then a close friend succumbed to terminal cancer and her own marriage to a soldier ended. And she tried to deal with it all on her own. We’re all really bad at saying: ‘I’m living the dream, things are great’. And, whenever you do get asked that question, give your mental health a number. Are you a six, a five or maybe a seven today? There are two reasons for that. Firstly, it helps you gauge where you are, so you’ll notice changes or not. If you’ve been at number three for a few weeks that’s not good. But if you can get everyone to use that system, it’s also a good measure for other people and help them notice how you’re doing.”

Liz McConaghy - Yeovil Literary Festival

Just like anything in our body that breaks, with time, rest and the right people to help you recover, we can mend our broken brains. I’ve closed the door on that dark tunnel and am walking a new, more positive path.” The bad stuff is the same stuff that everyone else goes through, not so much the PTSD and mental health.” 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. 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.’ I wrote the book when I was going through my PTSD counselling, and it took me 3 weeks to write because I just had to brain dump everything and it [was] just stored on my laptop and I never thought about it. Then a friend of mine and I were out walking and I mentioned it and she was like you’ve got to send this off to a publisher, what happens if somebody wants to publish it? Then it got published. It was never written in any way to be read by anyone, never mind the whole world, but seemingly everyone has really enjoyed it.contemporary research surrounding resilience, mindset, and posttraumatic growth, and explores the strategies that can transform personal trauma into personal My basic training, there were three of us which is good. My Shawbury course (RAF Shawbury, a helicopter training base), I was the only female crewman, then I was the only one on the Chinook force for [several] years, so I’m quite used to being in that environment. I was not the first female crewman by any stretch, there were a couple before me. 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. Today, McConaghy, 40, is thankfully in a much better place. She is proud of her time with the RAF and loved being a Chinook crewman. But she also knows the experience almost killed her and wants others in a similar position to know they can get help. And I never not wanted to go and if I hadn’t gone, it meant somebody else had to go in my place. Somebody else [who] had to do an extra one or one of the new guys who wasn’t combat ready had to go instead when he wasn’t quite ready to go. I was always really worried that someone would have to take my bullet, you feel like if you don’t go, what if something happens and I’m meant to be there and I’m not? That kind of kept me in the job, certainly for those ten years. “

Chinook Crew Chick | Mental Health Speaker Liz McConaghy - Chinook Crew Chick | Mental Health Speaker

On this week’s podcast Adam sits down with Cameron Hardiman former Victorian and AFP Police Officer.McConaghy said that the most frequently asked, and least favorite, question over the years has been the challenges she has faced as a female crewman. On this week’s podcast we speak with 2 x Olympian kayaker & QFS Queensland Fire Service firefighter Aly Bull. Born and raised in Queensland Aly’s love for the water came at a young age. 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 : 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.

CHINOOK CHICK - Liz McConaghy - The Andy Rowe Show | Acast

Find the thing that makes your skin tingle,” she said. “If it’s anything less than something that really lights your fire, you’re never going to get up and give it 100%, commit everything and throw yourself in headfirst. If you’re settling for what you’re doing, it’s not the right thing. Aim high and go for it! You’ll never know if you don’t try so just go for it. Does McConaghy have any words of wisdom for people thinking of following the same kind of career path? AeroTime sat down with McConaghy to talk about the Chinook, women in the military and the importance of talking about our mental health. 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. Liz was only 21 when she became the youngest Chinook crewmember to serve in Iraq, and then became the longest serving female member.

Forces TV Interview https://www.forces.net/mental-health/how-one-female-chinook-crewman-turned-her-life-around-after-nearly-ending-it-all 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.” Aged 21, Liz was the youngest member of the aircrew to deploy to Iraq and the only female crew member on the Chinook wing for four years, so her story is entirely unique. Royal Australian Air Force for 16 years. She deployed to Timor-Leste in 2000 and again in 2004, where she narrowly escaped death twice – first in a near-fatal helicopter crash and again during the surgery that followed. Having fought for her