“I would like to say a great big ‘THANK YOU!’ to every single member of Ward 4 staff who checked my leg, monitored my blood pressure, oxygen levels, sugar levels, who injected me as painlessly as possible, who helped me to the loo, who washed me, fed me, filled and refilled my water jug (sorry, thirsty gal), cleaned my room, changed my sheets, told me about the weather, who smiled at the photo of my children by my bed, gave me morphine, who showed me how to self-inject an anticoagulant into my tummy, who encouraged me out of bed when I couldn’t bend my leg, and who helped me access the Wi-Fi so I could Zoom home. I am especially grateful to the nurse who caught me when I fainted the first time I stood up, and to the crash team who burst in as though we were in an episode of Casualty!
“Once I was well enough to make the journey back to Cambridge, I was greeted by my husband, kids, cats, cards and curry. I made a speedy recovery at home, mostly I think because I was so desperate to get back in that river of mine! I have swum almost daily throughout adulthood, mostly in my local pool. Around six years ago, a friend invited me to swim with her in the river from a small, unassuming club in Newnham she was a member of. I fell hard for swimming in nature, so I joined too. For the first five years, I only swam on the hottest days of summer, often taking my children for play swims. But as the virus began to take hold again last autumn, I felt I couldn’t face another indefinite period without pool swimming, so along with some of the women I had met at the riverbank club (now affectionately known as The Swim Sisters), we decided to see whether we could swim through winter in the river. I was certain I wouldn’t be able to tolerate water any cooler than 17 degrees, but buoyed by companionship and adventure, all of us kept turning up day after dark, rainy day – my own coldest swim being 2.5 degrees on the day I had to start isolating before surgery.