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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
JD Murphy

I thought I could ‘man up’ and deal with my high-stress job. Then it made me too sick to work

A fire at Somerset House, London, 17 August 2024
‘I called my boss and said: ‘I give up. I can’t be a firefighter any more.’’ Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

I am eight years old and walking in the Welsh rain. The pace is fast and I imagine I’m a soldier who mustn’t stop marching. Even as a child, I already know that that’s just what you do: you don’t give up.

Swallowing my dislodged tooth during a camping weekend with my dad and his work friends, so they wouldn’t think I was weak. Living in a tent for a period during university. I could make a long list of all the times in my life when I didn’t quit; when I shut up, sucked it up, manned up and carried on.

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