An Australian Federal Police officer who worked on the investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 believes the tragedy "changed her as a person" but that she would do it all again to help bring justice to the victims and their families.
Amy Malone was one of Australia's forensic liaison officers sent to Ukraine in the months after the incident, and spent 10 months in Europe working with the forensic teams from other countries to gather evidence about the cause of the crash.
"It really makes you value the things that are so important in life," Ms Malone said.
"For me I would do the exact same thing again, I would make the exact same sacrifices to actually go over there."
Today marks five years since MH17 was targeted by a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people on board including 38 Australian citizens and residents.
Sent to The Netherlands 18 months after the MH17 was shot down over a Ukrainian field, Ms Malone helped to advise and contribute her forensic knowledge to the criminal investigation.
"It's intense and it's daunting," she said.
"You essentially switch off in a way, so that you can actually be really professional and have a sense of dignity also for the victims that were on that plane in getting the actual job done."
Ms Malone said the success of the investigation was a reflection, in part, of the dedication and input by the more than 500 AFP members that were part of the investigation.
"We're five years on now and the AFP is still heavily invested in the investigation," she said.
"We still have members that are deployed over there which a lot of people probably wouldn't even know."
'It never leaves me'
Ms Malone said due to the nature and intensity of the work she was initially deployed for only three months, but that quickly changed.
"Personally it never felt like the right time to leave, at the points where I was due to leave there were critical things that I just didn't want to walk away from," she said.
"So it was more like a personal sort of experience where you think 'I'm not ready to go yet, I felt like I wasn't done'."
On commemorating five years since the day the plane was shot down, Ms Malone said she acknowledged the milestone but that the experience was not something she would ever forget.
"I don't need a day to recognise what occurred five years ago — it sits with me every single day of my life," she said.
"For me it's just another day, and yes I might take the additional time to have a little bit more time to reflect, but it's a part of me that never leaves me."
