IT has been a year few of us will ever forget, and one that has made stories of heartbreak and human kindness in equal measure. Here are just five of the many pictures taken for the pages of the Telegraph in what has been the most extraordinary time. I took this picture as our NHS heroes in Inverclyde Royal Hospital celebrated the release from their care of the first Covid-19 patient to survive ventilation in ICU.

THIS was the tragic scene as colleagues and friends gathered to pay their respects to brave NHS worker Janice Graham after the district nurse lost her life in the battle against the virus. Many tributes to Janice appeared in the Telegraph in the days that would follow.

POLICE still had to face the day-to-day challenges of upholding the law in the depths of the pandemic. I accompanied officers as they executed a textbook drugs raid on a property on Greenock's Anne Street.

GREENOCK Health Centre staff took their place on the front line in the battle against the virus when they set up Inverclyde's first Covid-19 assessment centre. The group's aim was to reduce the burden on Inveclyde Royal Hospital by making sure capacity was reserved for only the most serious cases.

ALTHOUGH we are not, by any means, out of the woods yet, the arrival of the desperately awaited vaccine brought new hope. I took this picture of district nurse Carol Connolly as she became the first person to be vaccinated locally against Covid-19.