EXCLUSIVEMeet Sally Becker - the heroic mum who took a bullet to save dozens of children and women whose lives had been ravaged by war  

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Three years ago, Sally Becker took a train through war-torn Ukraine in the dead of night. She wasn’t so much in fear of her own life but the lives of the 91 women and children she was taking with her on this perilous journey.

They had been trapped in one of the worst hit areas and Sally, an experienced aid worker, had been tasked with transporting them across the border to safety.

‘It was scary,’ admits Sally, with characteristic understatement.

‘The train, provided by Ukrainian authorities, had blackout blinds so we couldn’t be seen by Russian drones overhead.

‘The atmosphere was intense and baking hot – there was no air conditioning and the windows were locked for safety.

‘We were cooped up in three small carriages for 22 hours. The children, who ranged from babies to teenagers, raced up and down the corridors, mercifully oblivious to the dangers. But the adults were in dread of being hit any minute.’

Thankfully, they made it to Poland and, after weeks of negotiation with the Home Office, some found homes in Wales.

As terrifying as it sounds, it was all in a day’s work for Sally, who’s been nominated in the Daily Mail’s Inspirational Women Awards for her role helping sick and injured children in war-torn countries.

Aid worker Sally Becker (centre) has helped sick and injured children in war-torn countries for more than 30 years. Here she is pictured with orphans from Ukraine 

Sally started volunteering as an aid worker in Bosnia in 1993. Her exceptional bravery and single-minded determination saw her save the lives of hundreds of children by crossing through enemy lines to transport them to safety, winning her the affectionate name, The Angel of Mostar.

Risking her life, she embarked on a series of missions in Kosovo and later across northern Iraq.

Now 63, you may imagine Sally to be retired from war zones. You’d be wrong; this extraordinary woman is as fired up by injustice in the world as ever.

‘The most distressing thing is that nothing has changed since I started,’ says Sally, whose gentle voice belies her steely determination. ‘It’s still horrific. It’s still shocking. I still find it traumatic to see children in that condition.

‘It’s so unnecessary. We’re killing children when, once upon a time, we would have sent our armies to far-flung fields to battle it out between them. Now women and children suffer the most.’

When war broke out in Ukraine, Sally, who lives in Brighton with her journalist daughter, Billie, 25, made a series of dangerous treks by road across the country to help evacuate 240 women and children. Including that treacherous train journey.

As if that isn’t challenge enough, over the last year she has helped organise the evacuation of 40 sick and wounded children from Gaza to Italy for specialist treatment. 

One boy in particular proved an inspiration to Sally: Kamal, a 14-year-old Palestinian boy, who lost a leg just below his groin.

Sally, 63, can't see herself ever stopping her international aid work

‘There were all these ambulances ready to take the children off the plane with stretchers,’ she recalls. ‘But Kamal refused to be helped. I choked back tears at the sight of this very independent young man who wanted to walk with his crutches.’

So how did Sally’s adventures begin? In 1993, then 31, she was making a living as an artist when she heard about the conflict in Bosnia and felt compelled to help. 

She had planned to volunteer for a few weeks before slotting back into her old world. Instead, that first visit changed the course of her life for ever. 

‘I contacted a lot of organisations offering my help, but they didn’t want me because I had no relevant experience,’ she says. ‘I wasn’t a nurse or an engineer.’

Undaunted, she volunteered to drive aid to the region and made her way into Mostar, the heart of the conflict. 

The eastern part was completely blockaded and as many as 60,000 people were trapped; some dying for want of the most basic medical supplies.

Sally’s breakthrough came when she was approached by a UN Civil Affairs officer who’d heard about her work delivering aid to the hospital in West Mostar. 

As she was one of the only international aid workers allowed to go in and out of the city, he asked her to help evacuate children from the east side.

Sally is pictured with a severely wounded child in Mostar, Bosnia in 1993. The Bosnian War was her first conflict as an aid worker 

After gaining permission from the head of the Croat Military Health Authorities to rescue all the wounded children and their mothers, she drove across the front line in an old Bedford ambulance. That didn’t stop her coming under fire from snipers in the surrounding hills.

‘When I heard the crack of the bullets I was terrified,’ says Sally. ‘I didn’t know whether to stop and shelter behind the vehicle or try to run away. But I decided to keep going and eventually made it to the hospital.’

The ensuing months saw her bring a convoy of 57 ambulances and trucks from Brighton, carrying £1m worth of medical aid and evacuating 100 injured children and their mothers from the area.

Two months later, she returned to rescue 28 injured children and their mothers by helicopter from a monastery in central Bosnia.

But she didn’t always escape unscathed. Following a mission in 1998 to bring 15 injured children and their families across the mountains from Kosovo, two masked gunmen ambushed her outside her hotel in northern Albania. As Sally threw herself to the ground, a shot whistled through the air, hitting her leg.

‘At first I didn’t know what had happened,’ recalls Sally. ‘But my colleague, a former nurse, said, “You’ve been shot!” I could feel the ground soaking wet beneath me and realised it was blood.’

Sally’s life was saved by Bill Foxton, a British veteran who was in Kosovo with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and happened to be staying in a nearby hotel. 

Bill, a former army major, threw her in an army truck and drove her to hospital at breakneck speed, where he helped to staunch the flow of blood, saving her leg and probably her life.

Three years ago Sally took a train carrying 91 women and children through war-torn Ukraine in the dead of night. Sally and the other passengers were relieved when they finally reached Poland, where this photograph was taken

Sally ended up falling in love with Bill. In 1999, and back home in Brighton, she gave birth to their daughter, Billie. Sadly her relationship with Bill ended soon after and he moved to Afghanistan before his death in 2009.

‘As a single mum, I have been very conscious I need to stay safe for my daughter,’ says Sally. ‘There have been times I felt guilty leaving Billie with my mother while I was away. But plenty of women do dangerous jobs. It’s no different for me.

‘While I try to be extra careful, I can’t turn my back on the children who need me. Every time I have to cross a front line, I’m terrified, though. It’s just, having done it before, it’s hard to say no.’

Now grown up, Billie is so supportive of her mother she joined her in Poland in 2022 to help the children escaping from Ukraine.

If this isn’t impressive enough, in 2021 Sally launched the ground-breaking Save A Child app. This allows Sally and her small team to connect medics treating children in remote or war-torn areas with specialists.

‘We now have over 300 specialists throughout the world to call on,’ she says. 

‘It means a doctor or nurse treating children in areas like Gaza can reach out and get expert help within an hour or two, which is often the difference between life and death. 

After weeks of negotiation with the Home Office, some of the Ukrainian women and children who Sally transported found homes in Wales, where this photograph was taken

'We have saved many babies in Afghanistan thanks to our neo-natal experts in the UK and Sweden.

‘Just this week a doctor in Afghanistan was trying to treat a little boy with a severely injured arm. Gangrene was setting in and the doctor didn’t know the best way to treat him. We allocated the case to one of our trauma specialists and the boy’s arm has been saved.’

It’s stories like these that keep this incredible woman going.

As Sally herself says, ‘It’s my life now and has been for over 30 years. I can’t see myself ever stopping.’

• Sally’s autobiography, Where Angels Fear To Tread, is published on April 10.

Do YOU know an inspirational campaigner, carer or activist? Just one week left to send us YOUR nomination 

We all know them – the women determined to make a difference in their communities. That might be by raising funds, championing underdogs or campaigning for causes. That's why we've launched the Daily Mail's Inspirational Women Awards 2025, in partnership with disability charity Sense, and sponsored by Marks & Spencer. We want you to nominate extraordinary women from every walk of life. Five finalists will be chosen to attend a charity gala on Thursday, June 5. 

Each winner receives a crystal trophy and a £500 M&S gift voucher. There are no cash alternatives to the prizes. Full terms apply. Read before entering at dailymail.co.uk/inspirationalwomenawards2025.