Coronavirus: Ex-cub scout cares for former troop leader in hospital

Trevor Head (R) with his then troop leader Pam Giles smiling beside him

A retired police inspector taken to hospital with coronavirus said it was "incredible" to discover her carer had been one of her scouts decades earlier.

Pam Giles, 68 and from Ashburton in Devon, said she felt "alone" as she lay in Torbay Hospital with Covid-19.

But then Trevor Head, one of her cub scouts when she was troop leader in the 1970s and now a 52-year-old healthcare assistant, showed up.

"You'd never think that the roles would get completely reversed," she said.

Ms Giles retired as an inspector after a 40-year career with the police

"There I was needing help and he was there."

Ms Giles, who is asthmatic, said she felt she had been "run over by a bus" when she was taken to hospital on 18 March.

"I am quite a strong person really but that was actually frightening," she told the BBC.

Mr Head was about seven years old when Ms Giles was his troop leader

Ms Giles was released from hospital almost a week after being admitted. She said she had "no contact" during her time there.

"You're in a room on your own, just looking at the same view day after day, hour after and hour, and there is nothing you can do about it really."

Ms Giles was thrilled to discover her former cub was her carer in hospital

Recalling the moment she saw Mr Head again, she said: "He came in. I could not believe it, it was incredible to see someone I knew.

"He was all gowned up but I could hear his voice... I got very upset, I have to say."

Mr Head said he remembered Ms Giles being a "strict" leader, "but she was lovely and couldn't do enough for you".

He said he knew she had been through a "really scary time" as a coronavirus patient, and it had moved him.

Ms Giles said she owed the "marvellous" staff at Torbay hospital a pint.

"To know what they're going into every day, I thank them very much indeed," she said.

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