Veteran shares his Covid-19 nightmare

An army veteran who survived coronavirus and is now helping frontline workers has told how the killer disease triggered terrifying flashbacks from his time in the forces.

Bill Convery, 67, said the virus caused him extreme anxiety and brought on “troubling” nightmares from his time in the British armed forces.

Bill, who served in Oman, Northern Ireland, Cambodia and the Falklands, was struck down with a fever in March and was bedridden for four weeks as he fought the virus.

The veteran, who is now a taxi driver, said it was worse than malaria – which he fought off in 1976.

After eventually testing negative for Covid-19, Bill decided to help key workers and now transports NHS staff to work, as well as helping deliver protective equipment.

Bill 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.

“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.”

After five days in bed Bill, from Kirkcaldy, managed to call the GP who arranged for him to have a prescription dropped off at his house.

Bill said: “I didn’t even get to talk to a doctor, a young girl on reception immediately took control and organised a prescription.

“It was just in time as I was at the passing out stage.

“It only took half an hour from my phone call to get the medicine.

“After taking immediately able again.”

It took Bill four weeks to fully recover. it, I was to breathe