Have you ever had a near-death experience? I’ve had a couple, most recently last year. It involved a nasty bout of COVID, a massive thunderstorm, and a small but significant black button.

I still can’t believe I survived.

I was on NSW’s Central Coast with my then 16-year-old, who was in the process of learning to drive. She had driven us up the previous morning, and we planned to stay for two nights.

Within seconds, the windscreen had completely clouded over. And in my dazed state of near delirium, I could not figure out how to fix it. Credit: Getty

That day, however, I had begun to feel seriously unwell. I took some painkillers, but over the course of the morning I could feel my fever rising. I took a COVID test: positive. By then, my head was screaming, and I knew I had to get back home to my own bed.

We threw our stuff into the car, locked up the house, and began the 90-minute drive back to Sydney. My daughter was already a competent driver, but she was very inexperienced, and I became anxious as we headed on to the M1. I felt groggy, I was beginning to ache all over, and I was freezing cold despite the warmth of the car. I couldn’t pay........

© Brisbane Times