Beloved Sooty puppeteer Matthew Corbett has revealed that he almost died after contracting the deadly coronavirus disease earlier this year.
The 72-year-old took over as handler of Sooty from his father - Sooty creator Harry Corbett - in 1976 and led the franchise, which also featured the puppets Sweep, Soo and Cousin Scampi, until his retirement in 1998.
Now, in an interview with Cheshire Life magazine, Corbett has opened up on his terrifying battle with COVID-19 and how it led to him deciding to sell up his home and move down South with his wife.
"I caught corona. I was in Warrington General Hospital for 10 nights and have been told since that it was touch and go as to whether I would survive," he recalled.
"As a result of the coronavirus I then got pneumonia, which led to atrial fibrillation. It was much worse for my family than for me. They were terrified, they thought I wasn't coming out of hospital.
"It's been a wake-up call. Seven weeks later I still get so out of breath and am so weak, and I just cannot deal with this house. I can't mow the lawn, it's too big, and I can't carry down the shopping.
"We're moving to a retirement village in Horsham, in West Sussex, where everything is on the doorstep. It's close to our children and to Gatwick, so we shall have the best of all worlds."
The worldwide death toll from coronavirus has now passed the grim milestone of half a million people, with over 43,000 losing their lives in the UK alone.
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