The RNLI was my pandemic SAVIOUR!

Classed as vulnerable and told to shut herself away from the world, Vicki Owens initially felt scared as the first lockdown hit

- KARA O’NEILL

Like many of us, Vicki Owens, 49, still remembers exactly how she felt when Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the country was going into lockdown, amid a terrifying coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.

‘It was really scary,’ Vicki, who lives in Holyhead, on Anglesey, Wales, says. ‘I have psoriatic arthritis, and the medication I take to manage my condition represses my immune system, putting me straight into the “vulnerable” category.

‘I always knew my chronic health condition came with a few disadvantages but being more susceptible to a killer virus during a worldwide pandemic wasn’t something I ever thought I’d need to consider,’ Vicki says. ‘A phone call with my Rheumatology department and the dreaded letter from the Welsh Government confirmed I needed to shield – and with that, completely change my way of life.’

But Vicki, a hotel receptionist, had a plan. Keep busy and carry on – and the key to that was her position with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).