Page 34 - TalkTalk

Eva Hudson
Marlee Baron
Marlee became a policewoman eight years
ago, and has done a lot of work in undercover
operations.
'We had a careers talk at school about joining
the police force, which interested me and I
decided to apply. I really liked the work so
signed on the dotted line and became a full-
time officer. After a couple of years, I joined the
Special Inquiry Section, which deals with
robberies. I have to do a certain amount of
undercover work, such as pretending to be a
cashier in a bank about which we've received a
tip-off that it might be robbed. Obviously,
we're dealing with criminals, some of whom
are violent, so there's already the element of
risk. However, I have a back-up team that I
have total confidence in, and therefore, I don't
really feel scared when I'm working
undercover. It does frighten me when we have
to do a raid though, as we never know what
we're going to face when we walk into a room.
That makes me more careful, and not being
alone, makes me feel more confident.’
During the week, Eva works in a shop making
chocolate. However, at weekends she drives down to
Dover, on the English Channel, where she trains to
swim the thirty-five kilometre stretch of sea between
England and France, one of the world's busiest
shipping lanes.
‘When I was young, I kept winning long-distance
swimming events and eventually someone said to
me, 'Why not have a go at the Channel?' l thought I
couldn't do it and made excuses saying I couldn't
afford it. Then my friends started raising money to
pay for me to try, so I had no choice but to do it.
When I got in the sea, I kept asking myself 'What am
I doing?' It was hard work and I was scared. It finally
took me 11 hours 21 minutes and I was told to try it
again and do it a bit faster the next time! These days
I swim the Channel mainly to raise money for children
in hospitals.’
Katherine Melanie
In 2023, although a mother of three small children,
Katherine signed up for the Air Force because she saw
it as a change from her domestic routine. Her
husband was already a pilot and urged her to join.
Katherine didn't think the Air Force would accept her,
but they did and she is now not only an Air Force pilot
for her country, but also flies small planes in
competitions.
‘I'm quite a careful and cautious person and don't
think of what I do as dangerous because I always
respect my limitations and those of the aircraft. The
engine could fail, but that's a risk I have to take. My
worst and most scary moment was when I was flying
home from a competition in France. The weather was
awful, forcing me to fly lower and lower. My heart
was racing, my mouth was dry, and my hands were
sweating. I had to turn back and find another airfield
to land at. I also race cars and have often been more
frightened doing that than flying.’