Southend therapist was 'powerless' as husband lay in Covid coma

Janice Stringer came close to losing her paramedic husband Vincent at the beginning of the pandemic, with the 54-year-old being on intensive care for weeks.

Mrs Stringer, also aged 54, was working as a freelance therapist with international clients before the pandemic forced her to remain home in Hampton Gardens, Southend.

Tragedy struck when Mr Stringer began suffering from the virus, resulting in the family taking him to A&E in Southend.

Mrs Stringer said: "My husband fell ill and we spent time caring for him, but it was getting worse.

"It reached a point where we thought, 'what do we do?'

"We spoke to the nurse on 111 and they would call back within an hour, and they didn't.

"I decided that my husband's life wasn't going to hang in the balance with a phone call any longer. We put him in my car and went to A&E in Southend Hospital.

"The doctors needed to incubate him because if they didn't thy said he would die, that was the call we had."

Mrs Stringer, who has two grown up children, then had to endure just snippets of information that the doctors could provide over the next days and weeks.

She said: "I didn't hear anything from him for a couple of days. We couldn't go to the hospital.

"They called us twice a day at whatever time they could. They gave me sparse bits of information like he got a good night's sleep or he wasn't doing so good.

"We quickly figured out that if they rang out of the nine to five time it wasn't going to be good news, so that allowed me to sleep.

"It was frightening when every day waiting for those calls.

"He resisted waking up, but on April 23 the phone rang on my son's birthday, and it was FaceTime, and it was my husband, they had woken him up."

Mr Stringer eventually was discharged from the hospital, but it was three months before he could properly get back on his feet again.

More than a year on from the experience, Mrs Stringer has launched her own therapy service "Wild About Wellbeing" after completing a course on Mindfulness for Stress, with emphasis on getting people in the great outdoors to tackle their feelings.

She said: "I decided to deliver a mindfulness infused, nature based therapy, helping clients create change and using the great outdoors to do so.

"Being a believer in the healing powers of the sea and enjoying so much being out in our parks and woods. I took my practice to the shoreline and amongst the trees.

"When you walk with a friend in some of the most beautiful of places, there are times when you forget to look up. The conversation and relationship all take over.

"When you walk with a therapist, a trusted guide. Someone who has your best interests at heart. They’ll remind you to pause-engage with your surroundings, reconnect deeply to yourself, nature."

Visit wildaboutwellbeing.com.