Nottingham Post

Adele’s warning to young over virus

NHS WORKER HAS BEEN SUFFERING FOR FIVE MONTHS

- By MATT JARRAM

AN NHS worker who was struck down with Covid-19 is warning young people of the relentless effects of the virus after an agonising five-month battle.

Adele Pearson, 29, of Bestwood Village, has described the coronaviru­s as “unpredicta­ble” and is still struggling to get her life back after being hit with the virus in March.

She feels “dishearten­ed” by many young people her age being “dismissive” of the virus as they don’t realise the longterm impact until they have caught it.

Miss Pearson, who has no underlying health conditions, went on a snowboardi­ng trip to France with her boyfriend in March.

On her return, she woke up in the night “dripping with sweat” and thought it might be “a detox reaction” from a week of drinking and walking up mountains.

She also felt tired, had a high temperatur­e and what she describes as an annoying cough. The next evening her boyfriend displayed the same symptoms.

A week later, she seemed to recover, but then things started to get worse, suffering from vision problems, feeling sick, chest pains and breathless­ness.

She even attended A&E and tested positive for Covid-19 from an antibody test in June.

She said: “The joint aches started to get worse, now all over my body and in my muscles, waking me up in the night and the fatigue was like nothing I’d experience­d before.

“My doctor couldn’t be sure what I was experienci­ng was down to Covid, as he didn’t know enough about it, no-one does really, even though I had a positive test. “After a month of being signed off, my doctor said it was post-viral fatigue which can have an effect months after being ill.

“He didn’t really give any advice other than doing a little bit each day. At this point, I said this must be Covid-related as the only virus I had was Covid.”

Miss Pearson, who has been a keen runner since 2015, said she continued to have no energy and even today struggles to exercise.

She said: “I want people to really understand the full picture. I feel as though this illness is very misunderst­ood.

“I worry about what people think ‘oh Covid is just a week of feeling a bit ill, I’ll be all right after that, what’s the big fuss?’

“I’ve been ill on and off for five months now, and I do not know when I’m going to feel 100 per cent better again with the constant worry I could relapse.

“We honestly don’t know how much of an impact this virus has on us and our body and it affects people differentl­y. It literally takes over your life.

“You can’t do much at all – you can’t clean properly, you can’t exercise, you can’t work because concentrat­ing is also draining, so watching TV or reading a book is also limited.

“Then when you do anything you’re worrying how much it’s going to affect you the next day. “Some young people have a lax approach to this. They think ‘it has been going on for a long time and not many people I know have caught it.’ “I am not trying to scaremonge­r anyone.

“When you have a cold or tonsilliti­s it knocks you for six and you are in bed and get over it but this is different.

“I can still talk and have a joke but when I get up and do something my body can’t handle this. It is the hardest thing I have had to manage in terms of health.”

It has been found by Public Health Nottingham the virus is most prevalent in the 20 to 29-year-olds. More than 1,000 people have caught the virus in this age group. Adele added: “Just be extra cautious. Don’t hide under a rock or be super scared. It is just being aware of what can happen and do what the Government says even if you don’t agree with it. Covid is unpredicta­ble.”

I’ve been ill on and off for five months now, and I do not know when I’m going to feel 100 per cent Adele Pearson

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Adele Pearson

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