Walking three miles across a city to deliver groceries in the middle of a pandemic would be a lot to ask of anyone.
However when every step has the potential to cause agony it becomes an almost Herculean task.
But that’s what Amanda Court, a 34-year-old from Newport, did when her father became ill with coronavirus with the illness leaving both him and his wife, Amanda’s mum, stranded in self-isolation.
“She was my one lifeline,” said Dereck Court, discussing what his daughter did for him during what he describes as the “worst illness” he has ever had.
“She’s done everything she possibly could for us and I’m proud of her,” he said.
Amanda, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, relies on morphine just to get through the pain of day-to-day life.
During the first lockdown earlier in the year Amanda herself was shielding due to her complex medical issues and the risk posed to her by coronavirus.
“My mum was doing all of my shopping for me at the start of the pandemic because we were worried about myself,” said Amanda, who lives in Bassaleg.
When the rest of the country emerged from lockdown over the summer and hints of normality began to return Amanda said she did not feel comfortable going back to the way things were and chose to remain in her flat for the majority of her time in order to keep safe.
However this all changed in October when her dad became ill with coronavirus – leaving him and Amanda’s mum Nicola stuck in self-isolation in their Duffryn home, unsure about how to get food or supplies.
“I was unable to go out because I had coronavirus and my wife was self-isolating and we couldn’t go anywhere,” said Dereck.
In response Amanda was determined to make sure she was there for her parents – ending her own shielding in the process.
She said: “I came straight out of my shielding and I was a bit worried about doing it. But I had to do it – I had no choice really. I know what it’s like to not have help – I’ve struggled so much in my life so when people need help I’m there.”
She added: “I don’t drive and I had my purse stolen a couple of weeks ago so I needed to do all of this without my bus pass.”
Despite these difficulties Amanda was determined to return the kindness shown to her by her parents while she was shielding, she said, making it her mission to take care of them.
“She’s walked three miles from Bassaleg down to Duffryn and got us shopping and made sure we were all right and then walked home,” said Nicola, Amanda’s mum.
Ensuring her parents were well stocked with food and supplies was something Amanda would do every few days, checking in on them through the window each time to make sure they were okay.
And, explained her mum, she did this in spite of the pain she faces every day and the fact that there is no straightforward route to get to her parents’ house without a car.
“There’s no bus where I live – there’s one every two hours,” said Amanda.
“So I did walk to Duffryn and back the one time and other than that I was getting buses and taxis.”
Understandably, for someone who suffers chronic pain on a daily basis, this took a physical toll on Amanda.
“It was really hard. On the way home I had to stop about 50 times I think,” she said.
“I can’t stand up usually. I take morphine just to be able to stand up – and that’s without walking.”
She added: “It was a bit of a risk for me doing it, more so than it would be for other people, because of my health issues.”
For the past three weeks the family have only seen each other through the window when Amanda has made her trip every few days to bring supplies.
“We’d see her through the window when she’d bring the shopping and then we’d have to watch her walk home,” said Nicola.
And, explained Dereck, it was hard to appreciate at the time just how much his daughter was doing for him due to the sheer exhaustion caused by the coronavirus.
“I wasn’t aware of anything because I was ill in bed for four days. I was really ill – the worst illness I’ve ever had,” he said.
“It takes the whole life out of you. It literally immobilised me for six days.”
Without Amanda, he added, he and his wife would have been struggling. “There wouldn’t have been anyone else,” he said, explaining that the couple’s family were all too far away to help during their isolation.
Discussing how he felt about his daughter’s efforts he said: “It means the world.”
WalesOnline has teamed up with Amazon, whose own staff went above and beyond to keep deliveries going through lockdown, to recognise Covid Heroes in Wales.
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