EAST LONDON, U.K. - s4story -- In this candid and deeply reflective conversation, Carol speaks openly about the life she led before 2020 — travelling the world, working in 47 countries, advising major organisations including Google, KPMG, Shell UK and Coca-Cola, and building an international reputation in business body language over more than two decades.

Then the pandemic struck.

What began as a cough and growing weakness quickly became a life-threatening medical crisis. Carol was admitted to hospital with Covid, pneumonia and blood clots. In the months that followed, she experienced fainting episodes, repeated hospital admissions, serious heart damage, and the eventual fitting of a pacemaker that now works continuously to keep her alive.

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Once highly active and fiercely independent, Carol found herself unable to walk properly, climb stairs, finish a sentence without breathlessness, or even access her own bathroom.

Rather than collapsing emotionally, she responded with a practical determination that runs throughout the episode.

In the episode, Carol shares how she approached survival not through panic, but through acceptance, organisation and practical thinking.

That included:

• Learning to breathe differently
• Re-thinking how to live independently
• Selling her house and moving to a more manageable flat
• Letting go of possessions and simplifying life
• Using online services and delivery systems to adapt day-to-day
• Returning, cautiously, to paid speaking work
• Beginning a support initiative for women with pacemakers

One of the strongest themes in the episode is how Carol has had to completely rethink pace, control and what a full life now looks like.

Living by the river and canal, Carol set herself a simple goal: to be well enough to walk out and feed the swans she could see from her balcony. Over time, that daily ritual became something much bigger — a source of healing, human contact and new friendship.

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What began with feeding swans led to conversations with strangers, then a local pub quiz group, and eventually a new social circle in an area where she had known no one.

This episode of Spots of Time explores not only serious illness, but what happens when identity itself is disrupted. Carol's story touches on ambition, disability, independence, community, ageing, breath, resilience and the practical realities of living with long-term health consequences after Covid.

Hosted by Angela Kanwar, Spots of Time explores defining moments in people's lives —
moments of challenge, rupture and transformation — and the personal "toolkits" people develop to cope, survive and move forward.

Spots of Time podcast - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/@SpotsofTimepodcast)