After Donaghy's work in Lismore, she joined
Network Ten in the late 1960s to work as a researcher and reporter. Her friends drove her to their home in Sydney's
Northern Suburbs, where they put her to bed, hoping she would sleep off the effects of a bad pill. Unbeknown to them, Wood had suffered
hyponatremia, dangerously low salt levels, as the result of excessive water consumption. Her brain had swelled and she collapsed into a
coma the following morning. Donaghy was reluctant to pursue the story, and approached the project with caution. After meeting Anna Wood's mother, Angela, she was struck by the normality of the family. Donaghy noticed the possibility of a recurrence which she felt would strike a chord with the Australian public–particularly teenage girls. The book questions the duality of teenage freedom and parental restrictions, as well as Wood's portrayal of a wholesome, albeit slightly insecure and unsure
girl next door. The book highlighted the urgency of a dialogue between parents and their children about
illicit drug use, which was an issue of increasing importance in Australia at the time–up until Wood's death, there had only been one other reported death from ecstasy. ''Anna's Story'' was released in 1996 and became a best-seller. It was translated in German and sold in Europe. In Australia, it has sold over 130,000 copies (2018). The success of the book led to Donaghy's covering of two other adolescent health issues: teenage depression and suicide, in
Leaving Early (1997). Her following work,
Unzipped: Everything Teenagers want to know about Love, Sex and Each Other (1999) was covered with a humorous approach. These three books are Donaghy's most well known works, however she published two more books in the 1990s:
Keeping Mum: Stories of Happy Parenting and Other Lies, (1997), was a
tongue-in-cheek book written as a guide for parents highlighting relationships and trust in teens and adults. Donaghy had also penned a children's fairy tale called
Two and a Half Wishes. ==Death==