Take my advice – not being a fighter helps you recover faster from coronavirus

I thought I could recover from Covid-19 the same way I did from a serious road accident – through strength of will and physical determination. I was wrong, writes James Moore

The only realistic thing to do was to follow my GP’s prescription and rest (Getty)

I know all about being a fighter. Nearly 10 years ago I was run over by a cement truck while out cycling.

Told that I was likely to spend between six months and a year in hospital, recovering from breaking so many bones it’s hard to list them from memory, not to mention snapping a few nerves along the way, I determined to harness my inner boxer.

Round one began when I was out of intensive care (where it was the medical staff fighting for me). I set myself the task of getting out of hospital and back to my family as quickly as possible. I also resolved to recover the maximum possible function out of a battered body that had undergone something evolution didn’t design it for.

I was duly out and writing for the Indy after just over three months.

I never got the body back to where I wanted, which in retrospect isn’t really all that surprising, but there was value in following the physios’ instructions with a religious determination nonetheless.

So when Covid-19 invaded our household, I went in with the same mentality. And fell flat on my face.

The thing with this illness is that it doesn’t favour fighters. It doesn’t. It sneers at type As, determined to power through it.

My doctor described experiencing a nasty case as like going several rounds with Mike Tyson, when he was arguably the most feared heavyweight to walk the planet, and losing.

It’ll pick you up, throw you to the floor and leave you gasping for breath (literally) if you try to take it on with a pair of boxing gloves during the recovery period. As I’ve learned to my cost. The only realistic way to combat it is to follow my GP’s prescription: rest.

Readers will have seen less of me of late, because I’m on light duties as a result. I feel a sense of guilt about that given the efforts other people are putting in during these troubled times; the medics and carers, obviously, but also my esteemed colleagues who are working under trying circumstances.

But the hard fact is that getting floored again isn’t going to help them, or me, or anyone else. The only sensible option has been to sit in a position that makes breathing reasonably comfortable and endure.

Yours,

James Moore

Associate business editor