A Memoir by Liam Dodds
Trauma, and the Relentless Search for Purpose
Some people run from chaos. I ran straight into it.
At seventeen, I joined the British Army looking for direction, identity, and a way out. I found myself thrown into the dust and tension of Kabul, then later into the unforgiving Green Zone of Helmand Province dodging bullets, IEDs, and my own fear. War didn't just challenge who I was; it rewired me. It gave me purpose. And it quietly broke me in ways I wouldn't understand until years later.
Running Towards the Broken is a raw and brutally honest memoir that takes you from the crumbling outskirts of Afghanistan to the flashing blue lights of the Ambulance service. It's about the rush of combat, yes, but also about the silence that follows. The empty beds. The funerals. The anger. The laughter you shouldn't be having. And the haunting sense that you've survived something that hasn't quite let you go.
After leaving the Army, I thought I'd escaped the frontline. Instead, I found myself on another one - this time in a ambulance, racing through British streets to save lives, or at least try. Trauma didn't end with my uniform; it just changed its face.
This isn't a war story. It's a people story.
It's about mate-ship and madness. About the brutal cost of showing up again and again for others, and eventually, for yourself. It's about rebuilding from the ruins: becoming a husband, a father, a medic, a man who still struggles, but no longer hides.
Told with dark humour, gritty detail, and emotional honesty, Running Towards the Broken invites readers into a world most only see in headlines or on TV. But more than that, it asks what it means to serve, and how we carry the broken parts of ourselves, long after the uniforms come off.
For veterans, first responders, and anyone who's ever faced the edge of themselves and come back changed this book is for you.
