Kirkcaldy coronavirus survivor thanks surgery & pharmacy staff who saved his life

A taxi driver from Kirkcaldy who survived coronavirus is volunteering his time to provide transport for the children of key workers.

Bill Convery (67), was bedridden for three weeks as he recovered – and he said that only happened because of the speedy response of health care and pharmacy staff.

Bill, a British Armed Forces veteran who served in Oman, Northern Ireland, Cambodia and the Falklands, was struck down with a fever in the middle of March.

He said: “It came out of the blue, I was hit with a terrible fever for four days and nights, it was quite worrying as I was on my own as my wife was in South Africa at the time.

“For a week I thought I was dying, with a high fever, difficulty breathing, and pains in most of my internal organs. I contracted malaria in Kampuchea, now known as Cambodia, in 1976 and this was so much worse, and I was on my own.

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/fife-town-first-scotland-launch-new-online-shopping-platform-2848587

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/joy-ve-day-made-fife-mans-months-pow-camp-worth-it-2847906

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/people/burntisland-bonfire-night-2020-cancelled-2848996

“On the fifth day I summoned up the strength to get out of bed and phoned my GPs’ surgery at St Brycedale. I didn’t even get to talk to a doctor, a young girl on reception named Siobhan immediately took control and organised a prescription. Hannah, who works in the pharmacy at Asda, jumped in her own car and delivered a nebuliser, steroids, and Salbutamol right to my door. It was just in time as I was at the passing out stage.”

Bill said: “It only took half an hour from my phone call to get the medicine. After taking it, I was immediately able to breathe again.”

That started Bill’s recovery and by week two he was able to get out of bed every few hours, and make a cuppa.

He said: “The virus affected my mouth and my taste buds, so everything I tried to eat or drink didn’t taste the way it should. My tea tasted like coffee!.

“When I was gripped by the fever I was extremely anxious, and had terrible nightmares and flashbacks to when I was a youth and from my time in the forces. They took memories and flipped them around into some sort of exaggerated truth where I did something good, but in my dreams they were bad.It was very troubling, I was drenched in my own sweat for days.”

By the third week, Bill’s wife, Mary, was able to return to Scotland and that marked a turning point in his health.

“I knew that I was going to pull through,”he said. “My wife made it home which did wonders for my mental health.

“I lay in bed for another week planning my revenge on the virus, and I concluded the best thing I could do was to be available to help others in the dilemma I was just coming out of.”

After four weeks, Bill was able to resume normal life and travel to the drive through testing centre at Edinburgh Airport where he got a negative result.

As a driver with Treble 20 Taxis, he asked his boss, John Laidlaw, if he could become a volunteer helper for frontline health staff.

“In no time I was delivering PPE and test samples ,” said Bill. “I also took NHS staff home from Victoria Hospital at all hours – they also gave me great advice on how to keep myself and my taxi safe.

“And now that the PPE and testing panic is over, I am doing yet another volunteer job. Treble 20 has been asked to provide transport for children with additional needs and children of key workers to take them to learning and activity centres five days a week – so I have a taxi and a minibus at my disposal. I honestly don’t have a minute in the day to myself.”

Bill has since returned with flowers and chocolates for the surgery and pharmacy staff whose quick thinking may well have saved his life.

He said: “People need to be careful with this virus. I considered myself so fit that no wee virus was going to affect me, which was a big mistake.

“People need to listen to Nicola Sturgeon and suffer the lockdown a little bit longer. Another few weeks will not make any difference if it means that it will save peoples lives.

While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you. In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you - wherever possible and providing it is safe for you to do so - to also please purchase a copy of our newspapers; the Fife Free Press, Fife Herald, St Andrews Citizen, East Fife Mail and Glenrothes Gazette.

Inevitably falling advertising revenues will start to have an impact on local newspapers and the way we continue to work during this period of uncertainty.

The support of our readers has never been more important as we try to make sure that we keep you connected with your community during this time. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. We need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Our team of trusted reporters are working incredibly hard behind the scenes - from kitchen tables and spare bedrooms - to look at how we can do this, and your continued support of our newspapers across Fife will help to protect their viability in the days and weeks ahead.

For more details on our subscription offers please visit email [email protected] or call us on 0330 4033004

Thank you

Allan Crow, Editor, Fife Free Press