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A resilient ICU nurse is bouncing back as he chooses to run the London Marathon, despite suffering from a PTSD breakdown during his time in the NHS over the course of the pandemic.

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The 46-year-old, Joan Laplana, is taking on the challenge of beating the Guinness World Record for the fastest man to finish the marathon whilst dressed in a pint of beer costume.

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Despite battling with post-traumatic stress disorder after being diagnosed earlier in the year, Joan is now looking towards a new fight for charity to raise money for the Cavell Trust, who provide support to nurses, midwives, and healthcare assistants.

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The father of three gained his passion for running to help with the ongoing anxiety and trauma, but since found himself becoming fitter and no longer requires medication as a result.

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Joan spoke about his experiences being an ICU nurse from the last year, saying “People were dying daily from Covid, I used to think to myself, I could potentially get the virus and die.”

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With 23 years in the NHS field, he was working as a lead nurse for NHS Digital Transformation before the pandemic, but returned to volunteer in the frontline for both waves, which he described as one of his “proudest moments”.

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Continuing, he went on to talk about the most difficult part for him, saying “One of the hardest shifts was probably when I lost a Covid patient, who was the same age as me, with daughters the same age as mine and he had no underlying health conditions”

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He added “On paper he should have survived but he didn’t. Just half an hour before he passed away, his daughters told him they loved him on FaceTime.

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“I was in pieces, that image stayed with me. I couldn’t even walk into the ward for my next shift the next day, and that is when I knew I needed help.”

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In between the first and second wave, he carried on with the NHS Digital Transformation position, which is aimed at improving the delivery of patient care.

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As of recent, the NHS nurse decided to take a step back and change his career path to focus on NHS Education as a Project Choice Manager.

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With his newfound love of running, he will also be competing in the Sheffield Half Marathon a week before the London one.

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To find out more to support Joan’s cause and other healthcare professionals out there, you can visit #Pint4Cavell at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-display/showROFundraiserPage?userUrl=Pint4Cavell&pageUrl=2

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