One year ago
to the day I wrote about the first months of Covid 19 and its effects on the
world. Today its still with us and wreaking havoc in all aspects of life. We
are currently at around 136,000 deaths but the last few months have seen a slowdown
in infection rates and deaths. At its peak I was delivering supplies to
Basildon, Queens and various other hospitals and the queue of private
ambulances collecting dead bodies was unprecedented, a very sad sight to see.
My own family didn’t escape it as my two sons tested positive and had to
isolate for two weeks and worse still my daughter tested positive and was ill
in bed when I bought her an oximeter for her finger to check her blood was
getting enough oxygen. After several calls to 111 and a low oximeter reading of
84 (should be 99%) they told her to call an ambulance and she was hospitalized in
St Marys, Paddington for a week with severe breathing difficulties. There was
talk of putting her into a coma to assist the recovery but they eventually
relented and let her body repair itself. It was a scary time as nobody could be
there with her but thanks to mobile phones we were in touch daily. She was
eventually discharged and after several weeks recouperation has now resumed
working from home. For that I thank the NHS and the amazing staff that kept her
alive.
So, since
last April I have continued working, driving my van here there and everywhere
delivering masks, gloves, aprons, face shields and all the other stuff my
company have to sell. But it hasn’t been without incident as those of you who
have followed my blogs since 2004 will probably know.
Firstly,
soon after the last post, on April 27th I was delivering to a farm
outside Colchester. They had buzzed me in through an electric gate and after
parking up and getting their goods from the back of the van I was wandering
around the property looking for somebody to give it to. A couple of dogs came
bounding towards me and circled me barking loudly. Not being afraid of dogs and
not one to panic I remained calm. Someone appeared from a building and as I
handed the item over with my left had one of the dogs, a Staffordshire Bull
Terrier, sank its teeth into my gloved right hand. It pulled the pinkie finger of
the glove clean off and with it the tip of my finger. Pain shot through me as I
let out a little yelp. As I looked at the damage my blood was pouring out. The
guy who’d come out for the package had no idea how to control the dog who, incidentally,
was squaring up to take another chunk out of me!! My language turned quite colourful
as I told the guy, in no uncertain terms, to get a hold of his %$£&ing dog.
With all the commotion a second guy appeared asking what was going on. I showed
him my now blood-soaked hand, stating how it had happened. To his credit he
sprang into action and went off to get disinfectant, bandages, and tape. He ran
my hand under a tap which just made the water run red and then made quite a
good job of patching me up with the other bits he’d brought out. I still had
half a van of deliveries but decided I wouldn’t be continuing with them and
instead I drove to Colchester Hospital where they did a fantastic job after first
having me soak the wound in an iodine bath, which stung like crazy I might add.
All this time the blood was pumping out of me and I reckon I probably lost about
half a pint from the time of the bite to the time I was bandaged in Hospital.
Oh well it would be a great story to tell the lads down the pub, if they ever
opened again any time soon that is!! I did report the incident to the Police
but only to get them to warn the people to control the dogs as It could have
been a child and have had a very different outcome.
I took the
rest of the week off to let my finger heal and no sooner was I back at work than
the next incident happened to me. I was about 10 feet up a ladder in the
warehouse getting something off the top shelf when I lost my balance and I came
tumbling down, bouncing off another shelf and grazing my stomach before landing
flat on my back and cracking my head off the floor. Although it sounds serious,
I could feel that I was basically OK. My work colleague who had witnessed it all
was concerned as he gave me instructions to just lie there a while. I
eventually got myself up and everything felt ok so, although soreness had
started setting in, I decided to soldier on and do my days work. I have
suffered with shoulder problems since that day but mainly when I go to bed and
lie on my right side. I have tried to get treatment but due to the pandemic It
has been difficult to see anyone. In fact I’ve recently received an appointment
to see some one this Thursday as things in this part of the country have eased
off a bit Covid-wise so lets see what they can do for me.
So, onto the
next incident on the 20th of December just before Christmas. I
deliver to a care home in Canvey Island and although it’s a huge order normally
requiring up to fifteen trips from the van to the storage area with my trusty
sack barrow, it normally goes off without a hitch. I try and get as much onto
the barrow to reduce the amount of journeys back and forth so sometimes
overload it and put odds and sods on the top which invariably fall off. On this
day it was a five-litre bottle of dishwash liquid which fell off. I stooped
down to pick it up and continued my journey to the storage area by holding the
barrow with my right hand and the fallen bottle of dishwash liquid with my
left. I felt my left trouser leg getting wet and also a stinging sensation
growing. As I looked down at the bottle I was holding I could see the fall from
the barrow had caused it to puncture and it was directing a jet of its contents
onto my trousers which in turn was soaking through to my leg. In the few
minutes it had taken me to get to the storage area the liquid had penetrated my
trousers and burnt my leg. It was now smarting severely, and I was at a loss as
to what to do next. With hindsight I should have whipped my trousers straight
off and got my leg under a tap of water to wash it all off but what would that have
looked like to onlookers? I completed my delivery and got back to the van where
I was able to get to the injury with wet wipes and to bandage it up with some
clean microfibre cloths I had in my work bag. By the end of the shift it was
red raw and I went home, had a bath, and dressed my wound with cream and bandages.
At work the next day my boss advised me to enter the incident into the accident
book and to seek medical attention. He printed off a few pages describing the
product which turned out to be highly corrosive and in a worst-case scenario could
cause cancer. Lovely!! I duly got treated at my surgery and went back five or
six times to get the dressings changed. Four months on and there is only a scar
there. I’m still waiting for the cancer.
In February
2019 I was up in court facing a driving ban for multiple speeding offences. I
managed to plead exceptional hardship and was allowed to continue to drive and
keep my job. I was warned that if I appeared there again I wouldn’t be able to
use the same excuse and would subsequently be banned from driving for 6 months.
Since then I have seriously tried to watch my speed. My main weakness is
maintaining 30mph in a 30 zone. My routes through Essex are 70% country roads
which have 60mph limits then when you pass through a village it obviously drops
to 30. This is where Essex Police set up their handheld speed traps often
positioning themselves on a bend where its easier not to be seen until it’s too
late. So inevitably I was caught on several occasions doing 35,36 &37 and
eventually ended up at Southend Magistrates Court in March to face an all-women
court who had not one bit of sympathy and were not prepared to cut me any
slack. As a consequence, I was disqualified from driving for 6 months. At that
point I was out of a job but after a discussion with my boss it was agreed he
would keep me on to work in the warehouse to serve out my ban. What a nice
chap. So, on Tuesday I begin the fourth week of my ban in the warehouse. It’s
quite taxing on my almost 60-year-old body but I’m basically left to my own devices
to unload pallets and get all the products onto the shelves. As the demand for
our products has taken a dip during the pandemic I’m only required to work on
the days the deliveries arrive so my boss is able to furlough me for the ones
where I’m not required which also give my battered body a day or two to recover
so it’s a win win situation for me at the moment.
So as the
weather improves, and we go through the various stages to come out of this
latest lockdown, I look to the future with a bit more optimism. I’ve had my
first Covid jab (Pfizer) with the second due in May, I get my licence back in
September, Leeds United are “safe” from relegation in our first season back in the
Premier League, things are all going in the right direction. Just got to make
sure I don’t fall off the ladder.
Keep Safe Everyone,
and Happy Easter.
TM
