Linda Lusardi reaches huge milestone five years after Covid almost killed her

This time five years ago, Linda Lusardi lay in hospital, preparing for her own death after becoming one of the UK’s first Covid patients. She has recalled the horror of watching her limbs ‘ turn blue ‘ as she felt her ‘ organs fail ‘

This time five years ago, Linda Lusardi was faced with the unimaginable prospect of preparing for her own death.

Lying in hospital as her weight plummeted and her limbs turned blue, the iconic pin-up was warned that her chances of surviving Covid were ‘slim’. But channeling her famous feisty energy, glamorous Linda, 66, fought back and is delighted to have lived to see the day when she could draw her first pension.

“I just got my first pension payment. I’ve got money going into my bank without having to do anything. The state pension’s not bad, that will pay for my shopping, the other private one will probably just about pay for my electricity bill”, she said.

In her younger years, Linda, who married former Coronation Street actor Sam Kane in 1988, worked tirelessly to save for retirement, but the last few years have marked a subtle withdrawal from the spotlight.

“I think nearly losing your life puts things in perspective. I do work but I take plenty of time at home,” said Linda, who recently turned down a big money job to spend time with her family.

“You get past a certain stage and you think ‘ I am who I am’. There’s more important things than work. I do still get asked to be photographed in bikinis – I did it at 50 and swimwear at 60 – but not so much now, and life’s too short to be worrying about what you look like too much.

“Obviously I like to look as good as I can and I do have tweakments, but it’s not the be all and end all to look young any more. I’m not young.”

But while she might have wound up her modelling work, mother-of-two Linda is about to embark on a new adventure as the DIY internet sensation no-one saw coming. From tiling and caulking to wallpapering and woodwork, Linda has traded her make-up bag for a tool box and amassed 134, 000 followers with her handyman skills.

And it is that passion that could tempt her out of semi-retirement. “We’ve had interest both from TV and a couple of publishers. It’s looking like it will happen. I think they’ve seen the interaction I’ve had on Instagram,” she said.

” Honestly, the interaction I get for the DIY stuff is so much higher than pictures of me all done up going out!

It all started during Covid when professional work on her kitchen was halted and she was forced to cook on a camping stove. She decided to renovate the kitchen herself, and daughter Lucy, 28, encouraged her to share her progress online.

One video of her water jetting her patio had an incredible four million views. Linda’s inspiration was her late dad Nello, a master craftsman who managed shop re-fits, including Harrods ‘ food hall, and while watching him she would ask questions and help him at home.

“I’ve got a lot of his tools, which I still use”, she said. “Over the years I think I’ve made and saved more money from doing up homes and selling them at a profit than I did from being a nationally-recognised model.

” I project-managed two houses and watched craftsmen thinking ‘ why are they doing it like that, I could do it better’. I just thought ‘ Well, I’ll give it a go’, and then did a lot myself.

“I didn’t talk publicly about it while I was modelling, but tradesmen would come round and see me on the floor in the bathroom and they would be like ‘ What? Have you done that? ‘

” I don’t know if that’s because I was a woman or because it was me, covered in grout on the floor. I only started putting it on Instagram a few years ago after Lucy said ‘ You should put that on there mum, people won’t believe what you can do – people your age don’t get down and dirty and do all that’.

Now the proud owner of a Milwaukee caulking gun – a gift from her husband – Linda has refurbished her en-suite and is now working on her downstairs toilet. She is also on-call for DIY projects at Lucy and 26-year-old son Jack’s homes. “My dad would be so proud”, she added.

However, despite her new project, said she’s not done with the stage just yet and will continue to do panto on the condition it’s alongside her daughter Lucy at the Blackburn Empire Theatre this Easter.

“I’m going to struggle to learn my lines on this Easter panto, because it doesn’t come as easy now. I’ll only do panto with her now”.

Source: Mirror