Lou dares wins
Surgeon becomes first woman to pass telly’s SAS survival course
SURGEON Louise McCullough has spent her working life making bones stronger so it shouldn’t be a surprise she became the first woman to pass military challenge series SAS: Who Dares Wins.
The Aberdeen-based orthopaedics specialist was the last woman standing on the Channel 4 reality show as it came to an emotional conclusion last night.
The 40-year-old survived 11 days of trials under the scrutiny of SAS experts like Ant Middleton as they whittled down 25 hopefuls to a final three over the course of six episodes.
Louise and fellow recruits Milo and Mark completed the full ordeal in the Chilean mountains.
In the show, former SAS and SBS warriors put members of the public through the same rigorous mental and physical tests they faced to join the elite special forces, with most dropping out or being culled during the process.
In a traumatic finale, Louise was forced to strip down to her underwear for the interrogation process – and
FinalistsMilo was thrilled to discover she
and Mark carry a huge log had passed.
She said: “I’m really proud of myself but I’m equally proud of all eight finalists.”
Superfit Louise, who was born near Belfast but has lived in Scotland since starting studies at Dundee University 22 years ago, is used to a competitive way of life.
She boxes, runs highintensity fitness courses and entered ITV sports game show Ninja Warrior.
Louise was delighted when it was announced last year that women would be allowed to apply for the SAS, opening up the series to females.
She said: “It’s a programme I’ve watched and always thought, ‘I could do that.’ I saw an advert for it on Facebook but didn’t think I’d get in. I don’t have a story necessarily but I applied to see how the process went.
“It’s a show you can’t train for – you have to be physically fit and it has to be part of a lifestyle. It was a privilege to be part of the show and
show women in such a positive light.” Louise goes on fitness boot camp holidays with husband Neil but joked that he’s unlikely to follow in her footsteps. She said: “After seeing how broken I was when I came home, I suspect not.”
Louise feels the women more than held their own in the series.
She said: “They were completely equal, if not stronger, than some of the men and there were four of each sex in the final eight. I can’t say we were competitive as a team but we were competitive individually.
“One of the things that drove me forward was that if I was feeling terrible – but every other person around me was feeling exactly the same. I was never going to hand my badge in.”
In the build-up to the final episodes, recruits had to fight and scrap, wade through ice water, evade capture, carry massive weights and perform all kind of gruelling tasks and challenges to prove their mettle.
Louise put her medical skills to good use, helping the field medic care for wounded recruits.
For the stressful finale, they were captured at gunpoint, bound and hooded, and forced through the terrifying interrogation the show is famous for. They were then forced to strip down to their underwear for the final round of grilling.
To cope, Louise drew inspiration from patients she has had to diagnose with conditions like cancer.
Her mental strength impressed the show’s experts, who commented: “She’s like a f***ing laser beam.”
In the last episode, Ant told her: “You have reinstilled my faith in allowing women into the military – especially on to the front line. If they are all like you, they can certainly get the job done.”
Louise celebrated – with a proper wash.
She said: “We met the other finalists, ate some crisps, went home and had a shower. It was the best shower ever.”
It was a privilege to show women in such a positive light