“Long COVID attacks every part of you. It’s incredibly difficult to handle”
Gez Medinger, a film-maker who creates educational videos about long COVID
I was training for the London Marathon when I started to have symptoms of COVID-19. I was in the best shape of my life. I thought that I’d get over it, then go back to my training. But five weeks in, I noticed some tell-tale signs of post-viral fatigue. I had experienced it before when I was 20, after what I think was glandular fever. There’s a peculiar kind of headache, a sore throat, a certain type of tiredness.
I was sure I couldn’t be the only one, so I made a film about it for YouTube. It turned out that there were thousands of other people struggling with the same thing. I realised that this was a huge issue. I have now made about 14 films on the subject.
The third film that I made was about mental health. Long COVID shrinks your world, far more than you might imagine. If a friend wants to chat with me for half an hour, I often have to say, “I can’t, I don’t have the cognitive energy today.” Your support network is compromised. It’s really hard to deal with.
Put it this way: I recently broke my pelvis, which was painful. But if you gave me the choice between repeatedly breaking my pelvis every six weeks for the next year, or having long COVID, I’d choose a broken pelvis. At least you know it’ll get better.
Making these films has been the most positive thing I could do for my mental health. I feel like
I’m making a difference.
I get a lot of comments from people saying, “I thought I was alone.” Likewise, the long COVID Facebook groups have given people the support they can’t yet get from the health-care system.