Growing up, my memories of my grandfather were of a man who was forced to medically retire from mining aged 51 due to Cardiac and Respiratory issues, with little or no support for the last 36 years of his life. With this background, I jumped at the chance to work in Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehab in 1999 to help people work on what can be done for these conditions to improve their quality and quantity of life. In 2020, I became the Cardiac and Respiratory patient after contracting COVID at the start of the pandemic. Once I was able to return to work whilst living with Long COVID, I wanted to focus on what we can do for a condition that then (and now) there are so many unanswered questions. This was against a backdrop of many other Health Care Professionals shrugging shoulders as this was a new condition that not much was known about – but there is lots that could be done to help people as individuals from other areas of Physiotherapy and Healthcare.

Combining my Clinical and Lived Experience has proved a powerful tool in treating over 1000 Long COVID patients, whilst recognising that not all presentations are the same as my own. As well as 30 year post graduate clinical experience, I am told by patients I offer hope, compassion and validation to many people who have not had good experiences in healthcare.