Women of Courage podcast

Maureen Greeves is a deeply religious woman. Yet her faith was tested to the full when her husband Alan’s life was ended by an act of senseless violence as he walked to midnight mass on Christmas Eve. He suffered catastrophic injuries after being battered with a pickaxe handle.

At the time the case attracted a great of attention as did the decision of Maureen soon after Alan died to publicly forgive the two young men who killed him.

Maureen is one of five women whose stories are featured in a powerful new podcast “Women of Courage”, a series which highlights how their lives have been changed forever by trauma, loss and adversity. Yet each has found extraordinary strength to cope with the life-altering challenges which could have destroyed them.

Like Diane Dernie, from Doncaster, whose world fell apart when she got the news that her paratrooper son Ben Parkinson had been seriously injured in the war in Afghanistan and it was unlikely he would survive his injuries.
Not only did Diane fight to keep Ben alive, but she also successfully took on the might of the military establishment and the Ministry of Defence to demand better long-term medical funding and care for severely wounded personnel like Ben. In her interview she has harsh words for those who took Britain into the war in Afghanistan in the first place.

Other episodes include Katy McDermott whose seven-year-old son Kyle was killed in a hit-and-run collision in Mexborough and how some years later she still struggles to cope with the loss of the person she loved most in the world. Also Sammy Woodhouse, child sex abuse survivor and campaigner, whose evidence helped to expose the child sexual exploitation scandal in Rotherham. And Caroline Willgoose whose grief is still raw less than a year since her son Harvey was stabbed to death by a fellow pupil at a school in Sheffield.

In each episode, listeners are invited into a heartfelt conversation as Women of Courage explores profound themes such as loss, grief, forgiveness. trauma recovery and finding strength when life feels overwhelming.

The podcast is hosted by David Hirst, a retired news correspondent and presenter formerly with ITV Yorkshire’s Calendar. His career began in the 1970s with the Barnsley Chronicle and he has extensive broadcasting experience across major media including the BBC, Sky News and ITV.
“This podcast is about five ordinary women whose lives have been defined by extraordinary events,” said Hirst.

“Each has a different story to tell about the adversity they’ve had to overcome. I hope people will listen - really listen - to their deeply mov