An 85-year-old is walking 85 lengths of her balcony everyday in Barnes, to keep her spirits up while she self-isolates.

Though Marigold Minear is in a strict two-week quarantine after coming into contact with a friend infected with COVID-19, she is refusing to sit around.

After recovering from an accident over lockdown when she broke her pelvis, Marigold has taken to her balcony to get in her daily exercise.

Turning 85 last Saturday (24 October) she has pledged to walk the same number of laps every day, until she can resume her usual walks in Barnes.

Nephew, Charlie Rose, captured a photo of Marigold on her rounds as he delivered jigsaws to her house.

Your Local Guardian:

Marigold says she is grateful for everyone who has cared for her recently.

“NHS Richmond Response have been really wonderful in helping me with Physio after I broke my pelvis. They don’t know this, but I decided to walk the length of the balcony 85 times a day as I had to quarantine over my 85th birthday after a friend contacted the virus.

“It’s just nice to be outside and exercising. A very big thank you to Richmond Response, and to all those at Torbay and Totnes Hospitals who looked after me initially,’ said the 85-year-old.

Her sister, Felicity Rose, added:

“Marigold is a fabulously lovely person and keeps us all on our toes. The elderly (we, her siblings, are all around 20 years younger than her, so refuse to allow our kids to include us in this bracket!) have been having a tough time of all this, and we are so fortunate that Marigold has got such spirit.”