A 12-year-old girl eager to return to the classroom has instead been left housebound - suffering with crippling long Covid.
Madisyn Seaman has become a "shell of her former self" after receiving a positive PCR test on October 4 last year, and is yet to make a full recovery.
Her mother, Rebecca Webb, said: “Before she got Covid Madisyn was a normal 12-year-old. She enjoyed doing her make up and going to school to see her friends.”
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Rebecca, who lives in the city centre with her daughter, says she does not know what to do to help Madisyn.
She added: “She isn’t even able to go to school. Her cough is absolutely horrendous and then when she's coughing it becomes really hard for her to breathe.
“And now, it’s been going on for so long she is unable to even walk to the end of our road.”
Rebecca remembers very few times that Madisyn has been unwell before Covid.
Rebecca describes the ordeal as “heart-breaking”, adding: “I cannot physically help her to breath and hearing her coughing is horrible to hear as a mother.”
She vowed she will continue to push forward and find a cure for Madisyn’s long Covid symptoms.
In a similar position is Alex Kerridge, 47, a landlady at an NR3 pub.
Alex got Covid in July and her symptoms have still not eased.
She said: “I have constant debilitating headaches, painful muscle and joint aches.
"I have very low mood, and distorted smell still. I've got no motivation and fatigue which is always worse around 6pm.
“Generally, I’ve been left feeling unwell all the time.”
Alex, who used to work 60 hours a week has had to reduce her hours down to 25.
She added: “It’s just knocked me for six.”
The prolonged symptoms have had a serious impact on Alex financially, but she praised the team holding down the fort while she is unable to.
She said: “The thing with long Covid is that it lulls you into a false sense of security. You think you are ok and you push yourself, then you are left even worse than before.
“Things like getting up and showering take a lot longer than they did before as there is just no energy to do it.”
Giles Hayward-Smith, a barista at Stranger's Coffee, has been suffering with long Covid for 14 months now and he too can see no freedom from it.
He said: "People with long Covid have these things called a 'reset' which is when you go back to being completely well and normal.
"For some people it sticks, but for me, I have reset twice and both times I have relapsed."
The week before Giles got Covid he was running 30 miles a week and was going to yoga every single night, and says he misses that the most.
He said: "I wanted to start running again in the new year, but it just isn't going to be possible, for me the gym is just a mere dream."
Now, he takes vitamins to try to help his recovery along, adding: "I don't know if anything would even change if I stopped taking them."
Giles too has had to cut down his work hours and so has let go of a fifth of his income.
He said: "I couldn't handle five days, so I now work four because I still have to get up when my alarm goes off and I have to pay the bills."
Giles is hopeful that the government are going to come up with some form of action plan for the 1.3 million people in the UK who are now suffering with long Covid.
What do we know about long Covid?
Long Covid, which is also referred to as 'post-Covid 19 syndrome' is where some people continue to have symptoms weeks or even months after the virus has gone.
There is no definition as to how long the effects of long Covid will last as it is different for everybody, according to the NHS website.
While most people will make a full recovery within 12 weeks for some this is longer.
The chances of someone having these long term symptoms is not linked to how ill they were when they had the virus.
Which means mild Covid symptoms can have long term effects on a person.
The symptoms of long Covid can include:
- Fatigue
- Breathlessness
- Chest pain
- Dizziness
- Insomnia
- Brain fog
- Joint pain
- Depression
Many people also see their Covid symptoms hang on for a while such as coughs, headaches, changes in taste or smell.
Patients suffering from Covid 19 should seek to manage their symptoms with the help of a GP so they are able to recover.
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