A Warwickshire resident has shared their experience of COVID-19 in the hope that people will recognise the seriousness of the virus and take steps now to protect themselves and others.
Lucy’s* story
“I’m not worried about getting COVID-19. I’m in my late twenties, fit and healthy and with no underlying health conditions. I obviously don’t want to get it, but I’m not scared of getting it. I’m young, I’ve had two vaccines. I’ll only get it mildly.
“That is what I thought before I got covid, and this is what I think now.
“I had a positive lateral flow test. I just felt a bit groggy, so to begin with I was just disappointed about having to cancel my social plans for the next ten days, rather than having any real concern about my health.
“But the day after, I woke up and felt like I’d been hit by a car, then the next day I felt like I’d been hit by a bus, and the next a train – I just kept getting worse. Several days in I was so unwell I was completely delirious, I couldn’t do the simplest of tasks, my chest was heavy, I couldn’t eat and drink. I felt like my brain and body was giving up on me.
“I called 111 in desperation; I knew I needed help. After explaining my symptoms, they booked me an appointment to go into hospital. I couldn’t believe that this was happening to me – that I was so unwell with covid I had to go to hospital. This was real. Could I be that person you read about in the headlines that dies from covid even though they’re young and with no underlying conditions? I know it sounds dramatic, but I genuinely thought I could be.
“I’m so thankful I’m now recovering, but I didn’t have it mildly like I thought, the virus has ravaged my body, it has made me feel years older than I am, and I don’t think I will get back to myself for some time yet. It is the most unwell I have been in my life. You read the stories in the media and our natural coping mechanism is to think – it’s not going to happen to me. That’s exactly what I did, but I was wrong.
“COVID has or will affect every single one of us in some way. You might think – what’s the point in the vaccine as I got so ill anyway, but I don’t even want to think about how much worse I might have been without it.
“COVID has made me realise that your health is everything. I hope I can persuade even just one person reading this to go and get the vaccine or get their booster. I wouldn’t wish how I felt on anyone, and there are so many that have felt so much worse than me. If you haven’t got round to getting the vaccine yet and you think there’s no urgency because you’re young and healthy, I know you think you’ll be okay, but you might not be.”
The COVID-19 vaccination is available to all eligible people aged over 12 years and anyone over 18 can book their booster shots at www.nhs.uk or by phone on 119. For more information go to www.warwickshire.gov.uk.
*Name has been changed