JOHN - THE POWER OF KEEPING A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

I was fortunate early this year to attend the Guild of Professional Estate Agents annual conference where the guest speaker was Ant Middleton from the TV show SAS Who Dares Wins.

I was fortunate early this year to attend the Guild of Professional Estate Agents annual conference where the guest speaker was Ant Middleton from the TV show SAS Who Dares Wins. He talked about the many challenging situations he faced as an SBS marine and throughout his life where the power of a positive mental attitude helped him overcome these challenges. This had a lasting impression on me, and I did my best to put this into practice.

Unfortunately not to long after the lockdown came into effect, I started to develop symptoms of the Coronavirus. It started with a dry cough, but it quickly elevated to a constant crashing headache, fever, loss of sense of smell and taste and full body aches.

As I am sure like many of you, I had been listening to the news and immediately followed the guidelines of self-isolation. I was drinking plenty of water and taking paracetamol regularly. My condition was severe, and I was unable to get of bed. Fear gripped me but I remembered the times Ant had faced life and death situations and maintaining a positive attitude was paramount to overcoming this. My condition worsened and after 7 days I felt I needed more help. I turned to the amazing NHS 111 service.

I was put through to an extremely caring person who quickly assessed my symptoms and she recommended that a doctor would contact me. The speed and efficiency of this service exceptional and after speaking to a couple of doctors they felt I did not require hospitalisation as thankfully my breathing was fine but they did prescribe me antibiotics to help with the infection in my lungs. This reassurance was another important step in my recovery.

As time progressed, I kept positive and slowly but surely started to feel better day by day. Four weeks on I enjoy the many things we take for granted like going out for long walks, whilst maintaining the strict social distancing measures.

Finally, I wish to thank all my family, friends and amazing work colleagues for the love and support throughout my illness. I know I am truly blessed. Please stay safe everyone.