Insurance boss warned that he might never wake up from coma makes marathon effort for medics

The hospital doctor’s words to James McComish could not have been starker.

“We have no option but to put you on a ventilator and there’s no guarantee you’re going to wake up.”

It led to the hardest conversation the insurance company boss has ever had with his wife, Nicky, and two children, Josh and Sophie.

He said: “None of us knew how to react. We were just totally shell-shocked.”

For two weeks, James’ life hung in the balance as he lay in a coma in Poole Hospital.

His condition had worsened dramatically after being admitted with Covid in October 2021.

To this day he has no recollection of that fortnight on the ventilator.

When he woke up his legs were literally half the size after losing around 40 per cent muscle mass.

His weight, during a five week stay in hospital, plummeted by three and a half stone.

But he had survived.

Now, just 18 months later and after fighting his way back to full fitness, he ran a marathon on Sunday (23/4) to raise funds for the critical care units at Poole and Bournemouth hospitals which saved his life.

James, Managing Director of McComish Insurance Brokers, part of the Ringwood-based A-One Insurance Group, said: “Two weeks prior to hospital, and in terms of my fitness level, I was able to run ten to 11 miles without a problem.

“Now I didn’t even have enough strength to unlock the keypad on my phone.

“But I’m very strong-willed and determined. I decided I was not going to be beaten.

“I had to walk again with the aid of a Zimmer frame.

Sweat literally poured off me as I tried to walk five yards.

“I’d had a tracheostomy so I had to learn to eat proper food again, starting with baby food which was dreadful.”

James, 45, was allowed home, far earlier than expected.

He said: “They do say that recovery is 90 per cent mental and I have to agree.

“Every day I kept pushing myself to push that little bit further than the day before.

“I was so grateful to the nurses and the care I received.

“They were amazing and it’s down to them that I was kept alive.

“I had sepsis as well and was as close to death as you could have been.

“I’ve done four marathons in the past including three London Marathons.

“In November 2021, and at a time when I was hardly walking, I decided to run the Virtual London Marathon in April 2023.

“It was going to be my way of giving something back to the people who kept me alive.”

After leaving hospital James, who lives in Broadstone, started building his fitness by firstly walking a mile and then gradually extending the distance.

As Christmas 2021 approached he had managed to get up to six miles.

James said: “Just before New Year’s Day I managed to run for a minute before my lungs were literally on fire.

“The strength in my legs was starting to come back but it became apparent that my lungs were far from where they needed to be.”

In March 2022, and as the weather got warmer, James began running again.

Three months later, he attempted the Upton Park Run, a distance of five kilometres or three miles.

James said: “I previously ran it in a time of about 23 minutes and was hoping to be under 30 minutes.

“I actually did it in 26 minutes, far better than I expected.”

Further park runs followed together with the Bournemouth Half Marathon, Broadstone Quarter Marathon and Weymouth Half Marathon.

For the last three months or so James has been running 30 to 40 miles a week.

He said: “My fitness is better now than it was before being ill.”

The Virtual London Marathon was on Sunday.

James ran a route linking both the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and Poole Hospital.

Colleagues at the A-One Insurance Group backed his marathon effort and several joined him on some of the legs of the run.

He’s raised more than £1,300.

Reflecting on his close brush with death, James said: “It makes you appreciate what you’ve got.

“To have that conversation with the family – ‘I don’t know whether I’m ever going to see you again’ – well, we still can’t comprehend that.

“I know my wife was in tears every night.

“It just makes you so much more appreciative of those around you.”