Introducing Corporal Lindsey Ryan
Lindsey Ryan’s character was inspired by some of the amazing women who I served in the Irish army with, but she finally made it onto paper out of sheer frustration at the two stereotypical female soldiers we’re constantly being presented with.
1) The harassed, bullied, downtrodden woman – never being seen as part of the team, and of course …
2) The ball-breaker, who dedicates her life to proving that she’s better and stronger than everyone around her.
Don’t get me wrong, of course both of these characters exist in real life. But on a larger scale, you have real women, who serve alongside their male counterparts as equal members of a strong team. Where is she portrayed?
Well, here she is.
Following an illustrious thirteen-year career as an infantry soldier and peacekeeper with the UN, Lindsey’s life takes a drastic turn during a patrol near the Syrian border, when a child sets off an IED, seriously injuring Lindsey and leading to the death of her friend and colleague, Lenny Jones. Those patrolling that stretch of road with her that day were more than just her colleagues. They were her friends; her brothers. They were the nearest thing to family that she had and none of their lives would ever be the same again. Lindsey blamed herself for that, just as each member of the team did, and no, the only thing she knew to do to survive was walk away from them completely. Losing herself to PTSD was one thing, but she had no intentions of dragging anyone else down with her.
After a spell of time spent with prescription medications, she finally found a semblance of a new life and a new career working with the city’s troubled youth. Kids who were balancing on the edge, in real danger of falling through the cracks; basically they were younger versions of her. Kids like that had so much going on in their own lives that they didn’t care what went on with the adults they were forced to spend their time with. Here, she could immerse herself in their problems without anyone knowing anything about the real Lindsey Ryan. She doesn’t need them to know she’s physically stronger than most or that she’d served on peacekeeping missions in Lebanon, Chad and Syria, returning to each country more than once. She didn’t need them to know she’d seen one of her best friends shot in the head while he tended to her broken body and she certainly didn’t need any of them seeing the scars, visible or otherwise, left behind from that day. Lindsey is happy to be underestimated. She feels that’s the only real strength she has left.
The only one who really knows what a shambles she’d become was her service dog, Frank; a seven-year-old German Shepherd who’d walk through fire for her and received the same love in return. But even Frank wasn’t able to stop Lindsey from putting herself in harm’s way every chance she got. Lindsey inflicted physical punishment upon herself every chance she got and a part of her almost hoped someone else would come along and end it all for her. She doesn’t feel she deserves a so-called better life. They were meant for people who were dealt a shitty hand through no fault of their own, like the kids she worked with. They deserved so much better and the soldier in her refused to stand back and watch the injustices that were served up to them. Without drawing attention to herself, Lindsey would stand up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves, all the while trying to protect her solitary existence. This new role in life was possibly the only thing keeping her from dying, by her own hand or someone else’s.
Lindsey Ryan is strong, yet flawed. She engages in sex with strangers as nothing more than a distraction. Though unafraid of anyone living, she’s terrified by what she sees in her sleep and of the major cracks appearing in her once sharp mind. A born soldier with no choice now but to carve a new place in a world that seems to have no real idea what to do with someone like her.
No comments yet.