I have tried to put the events of exactly 6 months ago well behind me. I have tried to move on with my life, but with a spike and second wave of this virus seemingly imminent, I just feel it's time for us to remember what this virus can do to people.

It's been a bit emotional reading my account of the virus for the first time in 5 months: how a strange fever on March 19th mutated into a virus which could easily have killed me only 14 days later.

I honestly didn't realise I was so unwell until I breathlessly asked a group of doctors: "Will I be OK?"

I wanted to be reassured with a laugh and smile but they looked at each other with no emotion and said: "We simply don't know."

I got home after eight days of intense treatment and 24-hour care at the amazing Countess of Chester Hospital. The doctors weren't sure if I should go home but I told them I was fine and they believed me.

I got home and reality then dawned. I thought: "I can't walk, I can't breathe properly, so how do I get up the stairs in my new apartment in Frodsham?"

I did it slowly, one step at a time. Ironically, this virus makes you do this for the next six months of your life.

The joy and ecstasy of getting home was short lived. I had lost nearly three stone in weight and was so weak.

I had lost all the muscles in my legs and the pain in my joints was unbearable. I could hardly move and couldn't manage to walk over Frodsham and Helsby marshes like I used to.

I tried, but the pain was simply too much; my knees were giving way and the shortness of breath in windy conditions was frightening.

This was an awful time. I still couldn't see my kids due to Covid restrictions and I couldn't walk without pain. I couldn't complete my photography. I couldn't work. I was confined to an apartment with no garden and no interaction with other people.

I had also lost all my confidence and was literally frightened to go out in public. I spent the next nine weeks asking the specialist and consultants if I might get the virus again. I never got a definitive answer because they simply didn't know.

The physical scarring of my lungs was obvious from the x-rays, but I didn't expect the mental scarring.

Sleeping was a struggle. Flashbacks to the sounds and smells of being in the 'RED ZONE' made me bolt upright in sweat with my heart racing.

The constant hissing of oxygen being pumped into us all and the spine tingling screams of pain by patients throughout the night was a recurring nightmare.

This was not everything. My body then started to be covered in small water blisters and my eyes became very sore. I had them tested and was told that they were ulcerated.

I had also lost some of my memory and was very forgetful on the most basic of tasks.

It's now six months later and I can honestly say that I am 100% better. I had my antibody test and it's positive so I should be immune to the virus now. That's a huge relief.

I reflect quite often about this 'episode' in my life.

I have realised over my 51 years that in life you sometimes don't appreciate how much you love something until it's been taken away, and that was the case with my children and sister, my friends, my photography, my walks on the marsh, my work colleagues and the lads at Helsby RUFC.

I am so happy to say that I am now back doing my photography again at Helsby RUFC and Helsby FC. I see my son far more regularly, I talk to my sister far more and my daughter is now living with me again.

I never fully realised how much I needed these people in my life until the virus and its forced isolation struck.

My next goal is getting back to Frodsham Marsh to take photos of the birds coming in for the winter. It would be amazing to see and hear them again.

So thankfully my story has a happy ending, but we all must realise that so many families have been left distraught, caught in coronavirus's deadly path.

Please, please don't let all this happen to you or your family – don't let the virus win.

Visit the NHS website to find out more about coronavirus symptoms, shielding and track and trace.

You can view Duncan's photography in our Frodsham Marsh photo feature.