Two behind-the-scenes Olympics workers from Harrow have described their “insane” experience as athletes head home from London.

Amy Sachon, 23, of Hatch End, was one of just 14 make-up artists to work on the opening and closing ceremonies of London 2012, working 18-hour shifts to make sure the 12,000 dancers and performers looked perfect for the one billion people watching worldwide.

She says she is now having a well-earned rest and feels “comatose”, but is still excited to head back to the Olympic Park to rejoin her team for the Paralympics.

She told the Harrow Times : “It was insane. Everyone from the headline talent to all the dancers on stage were our responsibility – in the opening ceremony that was 8,500 people and in the closing ceremony it was 3,500.

“We’ve been doing it since July 4 – that was our first day at the stadium, and there was so much preplanning involved, it was quite weird when the public turned up because I was so used to it being empty.

“I’ve worked with the designer for years so she picked me as part of the team. I was the youngest one so I felt a bit of a need to prove myself but I think I did a good job.”

Amy met a host of athletes and celebrities in her time at the Games, including Jamaican triple gold medallist Usain Bolt and British diving bronze medallist Tom Daley.

She added: “We were working 17 or 18-hour days, it was pretty intense. I walked through the front door from the closing ceremony at 5.30am. But it was all worth it – it was the best time of my life.”

Joining Amy in the Olympic Park for the two-week festival of sport was Bharat Rughani, senior optometrist at Visioncare Medical Eye Centre in Wealdstone High Street.

Bharat spent two weeks arriving in Stratford at 6.30am to be part of a team of 12 optometrists doing unsung work in a polyclinic in the athletes’ village, testing the eyes of competitors, coaches and support staff.

He said: “London 2012 has been an extremely special time and I have loved every single second of it – from the buzz in the village, the flags, the colours, the languages, the teams and their tracksuits, the athletes, and most of all my colleagues.

“Yesterday, I counted up how many patients we have seen. So far, we have seen 1,424 people.

“At the end of our shifts we were all given a souvenir silver baton in recognition of our voluntary work during the Games.”