Neryl Joyce reveals her journey from suburban mum to high-security bodyguard in Iraq’s most dangerous ‘red zone’.
Speaking to Woman’s Day, Neryl Joyce has revealed her journey from suburban mum to high-security bodyguard in Iraq’s most dangerous ‘red zone’.
Mercenary Mum by Neryl Joyce, published by Nero, is on sale now – $29.99.
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When Neryl Joyce opens the door to her stylish home in Perth, you’d never guess that this smiling, suburban mum is just as comfortable wielding an M4 machine gun, as she is separating whites from colours before putting on a wash.
Beneath her well-groomed exterior and friendly, instantly welcoming character, 41-year-old Neryl has survived ambush attacks, walls of enemy bullets, and spent months on end waking to the scent of gunpowder as part of her job as a high-risk bodyguard in Iraq.
Neryl could have lived a less terrifying existence, and stuck with her job as a Woolworths’ checkout girl, but she had an insatiable thirst for adventure.
Neryl also carries the scar of losing some of her best friends – like the colleagues she was working alongside when they were shot dead in cold blood by insurgents on a dusty Baghdad road.
There was one thing she wouldn’t sacrifice: and that was her son’s most important moments. “It was coming up to his first day of school, and they told me I might have to stay [in Iraq].”
Neryl said: “So, I just had to push my point and say, ‘look, I know there’s important stuff going on, but my son comes first. And I made sure I was home in time.”
*Mercenary Mum* by Neryl Joyce, published by Nero, [is on sale now for $29.99](http://www.bookworld.com.au/books/mercenary-mum-neryl-joyce/p/9781863956918).
Mercenary Mum by Neryl Joyce, published by Nero, is on sale now for $29.99.
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