How my life changed in lockdown: I saved a boy’s life

Emmie Penkett

Before lockdown, Habitat -a furniture company owned by Sainsburys- was a thriving furniture shop. But in January 2020, merely months after the first lockdown, Meg Drew and her colleagues found themselves out of a job after Sainsburys made the move to close branches across the UK. “I had been redeployed into Sainsbury’s stacking shelves during lockdown, but when the store reopened, I got the phone call to say the store was shutting and I was losing my job.

“It was terrifying. I didn’t know how I was going to get another job during the pandemic. I didn’t know how I was going to live, get money or run my car. I loved my job too, so I was heartbroken.”

Meg now works at a pharmacy. “It’s a lot more stressful than habitat, but it’s so much more rewarding.”

Meg recently saved a child’s life after his mother rushed him into the shop. He had gone into cardiac arrest. Meg and her colleagues had to preform CPR until the ambulance came to help him.

Although Meg misses Habitat, she enjoys the challenges of her new job more. “I miss Habitat, but to be able to help people every day, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”