Issue 1417

Such great heights
She decided what she wanted to do with her life aged five and by 28 she had retired. The UK’s leading competition climber and world champion Shauna Coxsey tells Simon Bland how she overcame multiple injuries and a global pandemic to defy expectations and make her Olympic dreams a reality.

Ride it out
Ambulance response times have been at record highs and the news is full of footage of ambulances getting stuck in A&E queues. But what’s it like to work on the frontline? A North West Ambulance Service paramedic reveals the reality.

A life lived in between
Wendy Mitchell has carried out countless public speaking engagements. However, because of the dementia she is trying to raise awareness of, she doesn’t remember a single one. She speaks to Sarah Freeman.

Plus
News, arts and entertainment, columnist Roger Ratcliffe, the Infertility Diaries, Sally Dynevor’s letter to her younger self and more.