A hospital nurse who’s hiked up Britain’s highest peaks found the stairs at his home became another “mountain” to climb – after he and his wife both contracted Covid.

Father-of-two Rajeev Metri, aged 46, is now back home at Bodelwyddan after six days fighting for his life in intensive care at Glan Clwyd Hospital, where he’s worked since 2004.

As part of his recovery he’s taken up Yoga breathing exercises which wife Reena, 43, also a nurse, was already doing.

The Leader:

Father-of-two Rajeev Metri and wife Reena

She’d lost her sense of smell and taste but recovered without hospital treatment for the illness.

But Mr Metri, a local councillor, had to be saved by colleagues at the hospital after his condition deteriorated and he struggled to breathe.

He was given anti-viral treatment as part of a trial, and oxygen, and told to breathe harder.

He was also turned on his stomach to expand his lungs.

Eventually he was discharged. However, despite having ventured up Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell Pike in the past, going upstairs proved a tougher challenge when he arrived home following more than a week in hospital.

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Father-of-two Rajeev Metri

“Every three steps I was stopping for a big breath, that’s how poorly I was,” he said.

“It seemed like the distance between the Moon and the Earth.”

He’s doing Yoga breathing exercises as his lungs heal. Mr Metri, who doesn’t know how he caught the virus, said people shouldn’t be scared of the illness, because most get better.

He also praised hospital staff for their care and support from friends across the world.

He declared: "I’m normally healthy and fit.

"Now I’m very pleased to be alive and I’ve become a convert to Yoga.

"It doesn’t take time but it gives us time.”