How my friend’s death from suspected Covid-19 shocked me – GP Taylor

As long as I socially isolated, I felt safe. Recent events have changed that and the death of a person I have known for many years has brought the horror of this virus to my door.

Angela Samples was in her 70s. She was a bright, attractive woman who I first met 20 years ago when I was the vicar of a local parish.

Angela was always helpful to everyone and had a great sense of humour. She could often be seen having afternoon tea with her sons in a local hotel and she would greet everyone with a smile.

When the pandemic struck, instead of locking herself away, she helped others who were vulnerable by doing their shopping at the local supermarkets. Angela put the needs of others before herself. Like so many others, she is one of the heroes of this crisis.

When I spoke to one of her sons this week, he said it was believed that she caught Covid-19 while on one of these shopping trips. She has died well before her time and, even now, all of her friends are robbed of the right to meet together to give thanks for her life.

Covid-19 not only takes away our loved ones, it stops us from gathering to pour out our grief and celebrate their lives.

There has never before been a time like this in living history. The world has been brought to the brink and life has changed forever. We may kid ourselves and say that when this is over we will carry on but, in truth, I do not think we will be able to in the same way we did before February this year.

However this disease came into being – I do not think it was by chance – and life will never get back to how it was.

My life has certainly changed. I now worry about going outside. I have a very strict regime and all shopping that is delivered is washed and stored before being touched. The covid virus enters my dreams by night and consumes my thoughts by day. After all, I am an overweight, over 60 years old, male, with an underlying heart condition. According to statistics, I would be very lucky to survive.

This has led to a constant covid-anxiety and I feel that it is only a matter of time before it gets me too. I will certainly not be returning to normal even if the Government says it is safe to do so. I will wait until there is a vaccine that truly works before I chance my life in society again.

Not only does this enemy virus kill, and cause economic chaos, but it also harms the mental health of healthy individuals. The Government has to start to put into place plans to help those who are suffering with mental health issues brought on by the anxiety and uncertainty of living in a post-pandemic world. We may keep calm and carry on, but these are trying times.

Yet, the one thing that keeps me going through all this and not giving up, is looking to the past. This week, we should have been celebrating VE Day. The celebration of the end of a war against an enemy of satanic proportions.

So many people like the Yorkshireman Captain Tom Moore answered the call of their country to fight an insidious enemy that threatened everyone. Like Angela and all NHS staff and many secret heroes, they didn’t think of themselves. They did what they had to do. Many sacrifices were made, many lives lost.

The memory of their bravery all those years ago is the one thing that helps me carry on. There must have been times for them when they felt like giving up, surrendering, putting up the white flag. As dark clouds gathered, they fought on until the threat to our way of life was conquered.

It gives me hope that the war against Covid-19 may one day end. The resilience and bravery of all those who lived through the Second World War allows me to believe that we, the British people, can come through this testing time. In the dark night of my fear there is a bright light. It shines from those who 75 years ago this week finally brought an end to the desires of evil.

I know that the same courage is alive today among all those who carry on working, caring and saving lives while putting themselves at risk. It is not just our doctors and nurses who are heroes.

There are thousands of people who without recognition are keeping this country going. When the battle against coronavirus is finally won, then would be the right time for us all to come together to not only say thanks to the heroes who fought the Nazis, but also to all those who are fighting the insidious plague of Covid-19.

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James Mitchinson

Editor