It arrived like a bolt from the blue. I will never forget Friday, December 13, 2019. I had a myocardial infarcation ... to you and me, a heart attack.
It had been a busy day performing lots of tasks in the garden, pushing, pulling, lifting all manner of bits and pieces.
At around 3.30pm I felt very unwell. It was hard to describe how unwell. Just a general lethargy and a real numbing ache in my left shoulder and arm.
A quick shower didn’t really help and I simply couldn’t muster enough energy to eat anything. Unlike me I decided, about 7pm, to relax on the bed. Basically I never made it, stuck with two stairs remaining to climb, sweating profusely and, so I’m told, looking very grey.
When my wife wisely asked if I was having a heart attack, I remember saying: “Yes, I think I am!”
She called 999 and we waited for almost 90 minutes. They were, as always, very busy. The two paramedics checked my blood pressure and fixed up an electrocardiogram (ECG). This measures the electrical activity of your heart to show whether or not it is working normally.
The results were emailed to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s cardiology unit. I needed to be taken there and so, aged 65, underwent my first ever trip as a patient in an ambulance.
On arrival it was busy and I was warned I would probably spend the next few hours in the back of that ambulance in the car park. The crew’s shift ended, different paramedics took over.
Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av Let's Talk.
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Denne historien er fra May 2020-utgaven av Let's Talk.
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STOP ME AND BUY ONE: Nigel's on the way with his 1981 Bedford
It’s something we all recall with delight. “Mum, it’s the ice cream man!” Let’s Talk’s motoring man David Clayton meets someone happy to be the owner of a Bedford ice cream van. Bring on the Strawberry Mivvis, choc ices and 99s ...
Beautiful Hill: Normandy Origin For A Name Meaning
Let’s Talk’s surnames expert Derek Palgrave, from Suffolk, researches three more of our readers’ names, the first of which probably stems from the geographical presence of a beautiful hill.
Words of wisdom about a hobby so many of us love
Let’s Talk’s gardening expert Charlotte Philcox has been trawling through some books to find words of wisdom from so many people about gardening and farming. Here she shares just a few.
Vicki remains so positive despite missing her panto
For actress Vicki Michelle, Christmas usually means performing in panto. But, due the coronavirus pandemic, this year will be different. Vicki speaks to Rachel Banham about her plans for the festive season, her outlook on life and her fond memories of filming in East Anglia.
Two centuries on Thomas would be DELIGHTED WITH HIS SUCCESS
He was a man without sight but with such vision. Derek James remembers Thomas Tawell who died 200 years ago.
TURNING 50
Here at Let’s Talk we recognise that our magazine is targeted at those aged 50 and older. So we hope we are always fair to our readers and to the older generation in general. But it seems many believe other media and businesses do not treat older people in the best way.
THE CHASE COULD BE ON FOR a Norfolk home for Bradley Walsh
He is one of the most popular celebrities on television at the moment. He’s a comedian, singer, actor, personality and probably the best quiz show host doing the rounds. David Clayton looks back to when Bradley Walsh came to Cromer.
The calendar is rolling around to the WINTER SOLSTICE
Claire Manion, of Norfolk-based Broadsky Astrology, looks at how we have always honoured the winter solstice, our shortest day.
PEACE, GOODWILL AND PROSPERITY must surely follow
In view of such uncertainty hanging over the rest of this year – and possibly well beyond – it was hard to come up with a suitable offering for December in his usual style, says Keith Skipper. So, he has decided to settle for a festive story set in 1951, that he wrote some time ago.
Friends
Readers of our short stories don’t have to have long memories to recall work by Anne Maxwell, who had a previous short story entry published in the summer.
