A single decision—to pull a car door handle and run—sets off one of the most gripping escapes you’ll ever hear. We sit with Louise as she retraces the path from a locked room in Idlib to a dawn balcony in Beirut, carrying her six-year-old daughter through checkpoints, betrayals, and a night march over mined mountains. The story moves fast and stays close to the ground: a blue-eyed taxi driver who becomes an angel, a consulate racing a death warrant, and a network of safe houses held together by courage and tea.

We talk about the cost of survival in a real war zone: bartered visas, confiscated SIMs, and the stark moment a judge says a child cannot leave because “Syria loses a Muslim.” When institutions stall, Louise turns to unthinkable allies—extremist smugglers—to cross into Lebanon, where Irish diplomats are waiting with blacked-out cars and a way home. Along the way, the details stay human and unforgettable: a child whispering “Mammy, just be happy,” a nun with hidden chocolate, cornflakes devoured overnight by hungry kids, and the quiet decency of strangers who took real risks to help.

Back in Ireland, the adrenaline drains and PTSD takes its place—hypervigilance, nightmares, an empty pantry turning into a child’s hidden cache of food. We unpack the long tail of coercive control, cross-border custody, and the practical steps that save lives when legal routes fail. Louise’s book, Stolen: Escape from Syria, published in seventeen countries and optioned for film, becomes both testimony and toolkit for families facing domestic abuse and international abduction. If you care about human rights, survivor resilience, and the messy, brave logistics of getting out, this conversation won’t leave you.

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