<\/p>\n
A<\/span><\/span>fter a busy, varied career, Mac McKechnie was keen to prepare for retirement. Following a spell in the army, he had worked for a charity and in offender management, and enjoyed \u201cseven very happy years as a magician and children\u2019s entertainer\u201d. At 66, he was contemplating life after finishing his \u201chigh-pressure\u201d job managing mental health services in Wakefield. \u201cI know a lot of people who become almost reclusive when they retire, because they\u2019ve got nothing to do,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to sit around watching daytime TV and before you know it you start getting up at 9 o\u2019clock, 10 o\u2019clock \u2026 I didn\u2019t want that kind of lifestyle.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n So McKechnie and his wife planned ahead. \u201cI got an allotment, I got a little dog, we had a touring caravan, we thought we\u2019d do a lot of travelling \u2026\u201d He also joined U3A<\/a> \u2013 the national network of learning groups for older people \u2013 and started both a magic group and a German language group, sharing skills he had acquired over his lifetime.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was OK,\u201d he says, \u201cuntil sepsis got me.\u201d In 2018, McKechnie was hospitalised and became extremely ill. \u201cSepsis affects all of your organs \u2013 it\u2019s not a good thing at all. To be honest, it was a close shave.\u201d Weak, but starting to work on his recovery, McKechnie mulled over the consultant\u2019s advice that he should lose some weight and get fitter. \u201cI discounted \u2018lose a bit of weight\u2019 \u2013 they always say that! But I thought I could be a bit fitter, yeah.\u201d<\/p>\n