It is a moment of cautious and much-contested transition in our Covid saga. I don’t mean the move from lockdown to a slightly more ‘nation as usual’ situation that’s being thrashed out in parliament, but in my father, Robin Hanbury-Tenison, and his mode of transport from mobility scooter to ‘yomping with confidence’. In the last ten days, he has shifted from merely surviving the virus back towards thriving in his old youthful manner. It will still be some months before he is the vigorous and inexhaustible octogenarian that we took for granted in February but every day marks a small step forward in his journey back to health.
The shift from bed-bound, to scooter, to zimmer frame, to walking stick has been Lazarus-esque. Even so, the doctors and nurses arrive for their weekly visits armed with strict admonitions that he mustn’t over-reach or exert himself too quickly. The greatest danger now is that he becomes overconfident and suffers a fall or, even worse, becomes sick again.
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