Andy first talked to Chik not long after he was discharged from Papworth Hospital having recovered from Covid.

Chiks’s poem below sums up not just this experience but also his anger at his treatment, that was symptomatic of much that was wrong with the initial response to Covid.

The painting references elements of his experience; his treatment from the amazing staff at Papworth, the strength he drew from his Rugby playing, the Gara design - emblematic of his Sierra Leonean ancestry.

Hear Chik reading his poem:

Survived.....Needlessly died

I lay To catch a breath
But the words echo
From Doctor Death.
Over 20 years NHS worked
Each year many lives saved
But that fateful day, March 23rd
My life was nearly paid Management consumed in a panic I was thrust into the unknown
Now lying in ICU, Papworth
No family, all alone
God alone knows
Why I survived
Ancestors? Rugby? Sheer will?
Not to ever forget those, who needlessly died
Fight, to stay alive
Fight, against those whose lied
Fight, for family justice
Fight, for every soul that needlessly died

Chikezie Knox-Macaulay