Deborah Richardson

I had to do an awful lot of work on my own mental health before I went.

I spoke to so many people about what it was going to be like in a live war zone.

Nothing can prepare you for it, mind you, until you're there.

But I honestly believe that my one experience in life, and yes, it was traumatic, and yes, I've lived with the consequences of that bomb bomb.

for over 30 years and will continue until the day I die.

But I feel like that weight and that heaviness that sat with me has gone.

And the reason I believe that is, is because my one experience was one experience.

And yet here is a country and millions of people that are subjected to this day after day after day.

And so I'm okay.

Well, funnily enough, I ended up needing two joint replacements in a finger because I'd made too many bears.

But I did come home and I actually had almost 100 koalas that I had knitted and I have found a charity organisation through one of our veterans in Thailand and they're going to head over to Thailand to an orphanage over there.

Thank you so much for having me, Sarah.

It's a privilege to be here.

And I will say every single person has a story.

Every one of our veterans has a story.

And those stories are important to share.

And so I really appreciate the opportunity.