Northeast estate agent Michael Poole is to semi-retire after fighting a life-threatening illness for months.

His sons David and Richard took over the running of the business that is named after their Dad, when he was admitted to hospital in Darlington last December with a severe throat infection. The firm runs nine branches across Teesside.

Now, Poole, who has only just started eating solids again, has decided to only work part-time as he continues his recovery.

Back seat

“I’m going to start taking a bit of a back seat. Prior to December, I would never have dreamt of doing that,” he says.

Poole, who is 67, (pictured) describes what happened when he was first diagnosed with an infection called ‘supraglottitis’: “The weeks leading up to December, it felt like [my throat] had a clamp on it, it was getting tighter and tighter.

“I was in the intensive therapy unit (ITU) and didn’t know much about what was going on. Cath, my wife, was called in about three times thinking it was going to be curtains.”

Gesture of thanks

He eventually left hospital in April, and has been continuing his recuperation since then. As a gesture of thanks to the local NHS services he has donated a special chair worth £12,000 that helps patients recovering from severe illnesses and trauma.

“I owe them so much, so am really pleased to be able to help in some way”

“I owe them so much, so am really pleased to be able to help in some way,” he says.

“I was unlucky to get what I had. But I was lucky to have the team working around me to get me back out again.”