A woman who helped police adjust to the Covid-19 lockdown while facing her own health problems was given a very personalised thank you for her hard work.

Patricia Flood, 62, went above and beyond to handle the everyday responsibilities of top police officers during the lockdown and lift everyone’s spirits, even while she dealt with non-contagious medical issues.

In return, Stephen Corbishley, the Commissioner of Police, orchestrated a show of thanks from the Australian dance group Thunder from Down Under after she missed their show on a family trip to Las Vegas.

Ms Flood explained: “I told him about how I missed their show last November and then one day he comes up to me and tells me he contacted the manager for them.

“At first I just laughed because he can be a bit of a jokester, but then sure enough all eight of them came through with an e-mail.

“Each one of them had a little message thanking me for either supporting the boss or supporting the community.”

She added: “I thought it was very neat that each one of them individually took the time to say thanks.

“They also invited me to look them up whenever I’m in Vegas, but I think I’d have to pass.”

Ms Flood, from Devonshire, explained that her role as the Commissioner of Police’s personal assistant required her to take care of the many novel tasks that arose from Government safety measures.

These daily tasks included filing curfew exemptions and liaising between police and organisations in Bermuda, the United Kingdom and the Caribbean.

Ms Flood said that her role allowed Mr Corbishley and the rest of the executive staff to stay focused on more “strategic functions”.

She added: “I like to think that we’re a team — nobody’s better than the other and I’m playing a support role.

“I like to work as a team and I like to be encouraging to other people.”

Ms Flood said that she carried out her duties despite facing asthma and high blood pressure.

She explained that this, combined with a battle with cancer that she fought seven years ago, made her more susceptible to the negative effects of Covid-19.

Ms Flood said that she preferred to work through her illnesses because it gave her a sense of purpose.

She added: “Mr Corbishley said that I could work from home, but I feel better just working from the office — it’s just a matter of taking care.”

Ms Flood said that she also tried to maintain a positive atmosphere in the workplace through small kind gestures such as bringing in lunches for officers.

She added: “We’re all in this together — we can’t change it and we can’t do anything about it, so I try to keep positive to keep other people upbeat.

“It doesn’t help to panic. I know things are hard but the situation could be a lot worse.”

Mr Corbishley said that Ms Flood was one of many “hidden heroes” who supported people at the forefront of essential services.

He added: “Our role is very busy at the moment because there’s lots of different things to manage and we’ve had to change the way the service is being run, but Patricia’s been a key part of trying to get those things in place.”