BBC Five times Prof Kevin Fong broke down in tears in a nondescript hearing room in West London, while giving evidence to the Covid inquiry.
The 53-year-old has the kind of CV that makes you pay attention: a consultant anaesthetist in London who also works for the air ambulance service and specialises in space medicine.
In 2020, as Covid spread around the world, he was seconded to NHS England and sent out to the worst hit areas to support other medics.
We’ve long been told that hospitals were struggling to cope during the pandemic. In January 2021, then prime minister Boris Johnson warned the NHS was “under unprecedented pressure”. But now many hours of testimony to the Covid inquiry this autumn is offering our clearest understanding yet of what was really going on at the height of the pandemic.
The inquiry restarts its live hearings this week with evidence from doctors and patient groups. Health ministers and senior NHS managers are also expected to appear before the end of the year.
I was at the inquiry the day Prof Fong calmly talked through more than 40 visits he led to intensive care units, his voice cracking at times.