‘I was jogging, now it’s hard to get to kitchen’

Mum suffering from fatigue, months after having coronavirus

Five months after a mum contracted coronavirus, she is still suffering from its dreadful after-effects and says she “just wants her life back”.

Heather Izzard, 45, from Barming, started displaying the symptoms associated with the virus in early March and nearly half a year on, still has a tight chest, breathlessness, sleepless nights and is exhausted after minimal activity.

Ms Izzard, an actress, was initially swab-tested for the disease by paramedics and told she had flu.

However, doctors have now said they are all but positive she had the virus and the test was inaccurate.

Medics at Maidstone Hospital believe she now may have chronic fatigue syndrome and cannot tell her when the symptoms will subside.

Ms Izzard, mother to an 18 and 10-year-old, said: “It has been five months and I am just not getting any better, I can’t escape it.

“The doctors thought the virus was going to clear up in a week.

It can affect everyone, not just old people.

“I was a fairly healthy person before, I was jogging... now I can’t even walk down the road or the kitchen most days. I just want my life back.” Neighbours and friends have kindly stepped in to help single mum Heather with her children. Apart from hospital appointments, Ms Izzard doesn’t leave the house often and on the two occasions she went to see her horse, she had to return to bed for two weeks.

Most people with coronavirus return to normal health once the infection has been fought off, but health secretary Matt Hancock said it is becoming clear that a minority, like the mum, struggle with long-term symptoms, including fatigue. Ms Izzard has offered to be a case study for a unit in Sheffield, investigating the lingering effects of the virus.

She is waiting to hear about a start date.