In Conversation with Koko Casey

About the Event

Please join us at Harry Hartog Penrith for the book launch of Stay: From Flight Nurse to Patient by Koko Casey who will be in conversation with Andrea Herring.

About the Book

STAY is a raw, unflinching memoir of resilience and growth. Sitting in complete silence in the backseat of a private jet, with a life vest on and waiting for your fate to be decided, is something most people will never experience. Koko Casey was a trained international flight nurse, retrieving critically ill patients from all over the world. Koko had flown many missions. Aviation and critical care nursing was her passion. On the night of the 18th November 2009, she flew her last mission, a mission she wasn’t supposed to be on but filled the spot at the last minute to help bring back a critically ill patient from Samoa to Australia. The medical jet left Samoa under perfect weather conditions with six people on board, but a storm was brewing ahead as the sky became dark. Something was very wrong. This is her story, reclaiming her life after that fateful night. The night all six people aboard the plane were desperately struggling to stay alive. She thought that fighting for her life in the ocean was tough, but it was nothing compared to the long, drawn-out fight for survival back home on land. This is her story about the depths of despair, living in a dark post-traumatic limbo and how she climbed out the vortex of doom to be the survivor she is today. Koko now works as a motivational speaker and researcher. She has found passion again, helping others. She now shares what she has learned with the sole desire to reach people caught in the despair of post-trauma. Koko shares her story of how she found the strength to keep on keeping on to STAY.

About Koko Casey

Koko Casey was a trained International Emergency Flight Nurse, retrieving critically ill patients from all over the world. On the night of the 18th of November 2009, she flew her last mission, a mission to retrieve a critically ill patient from Samoa to Australia. The medical jet left Samoa under perfect weather conditions with six people on board. On approach to Norfolk Island for a fuel stop, the weather had deteriorated due to a strong storm cell. Four landings were attempted until the jet was exhausted of fuel, and the decision was made by the pilots to ditch into the roaring ocean. Koko’s seat was where the plane broke in two on impact and it changed her life, both physically and psychologically.

Koko was born and raised in Western Sydney and completed her Bachelor of Nursing while navigating out of a non-sustainable marriage and continued to thrive as a single mother. She was an Intensive Care nurse, a Motorsport Trauma nurse and an Emergency Flight Nurse and Nurse Educator with CareFlight NSW. Koko won “Mission of the Year” for a complex retrieval and a few weeks before the crash she was a guest speaker at an International Aeromedical Conference.

Koko now shares how she was able to see the light of life again with the intent of reaching others who are lost in the darkness of post-traumatic limbo, anxiety, depression, pharmaceutical addiction and those who are battling the pull of suicidal thinking. She now works as a motivational speaker and completed a Bachelor of Research focusing on trauma survival.

About Andrea Herring

Andrea is a Former Clinical Nurse Consultant, National Nurse Manager and Retrieval Nurse with CareFlight. Andrea was sent to Norfolk Island to bring Koko back after the plane crash.