Teresa trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London before deciding to join the Royal Air Force. In a 27-year career, she travelled around the world liaising complex aeromedical evacuations, before deploying to Iraq and later Afghanistan. Back in the UK, Teresa became the Officer Commanding Nursing (or so-called ‘Military Matron’) at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham, treating patients who had just hours earlier been evacuated from the battlefields. Her expertise culminated in managing the relocation of the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre from Headley Court to Stanford Hall in 2018.

She continues to be a champion for nurses and patients, as chair of wellbeing service Nurse Lifeline and director-turned-consultant of The Drive Project, whose training empowers veterans to share their stories.

Content warnings: Bosnian War, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, explosions, near-death experiences, COVID-19 pandemic