A WATERFORD nurse who contracted coronavirus in March has described how she lived in constant fear and pain – and made sure she had her Will on the kitchen table to be found easily if she died.
Single parent Susie Kelly, 46, said she had a plan in place for her brother to become the carer for her 20-year-old son, who is recovering from brain surgery, and her young daughter (9) should she be found dead at home.
Speaking to Damien Tiernan on 'Deise Today' on WLR, Susie – who had been an extremely healthy and physically active person - described waking one night in mid March, drenched in sweat and with a very high temperature..and immediately suspected she had contracted Covid.
She rang her GP in the morning and he told her that an ambulance would be sent out to take her swabs, which was what happening at that time. She says that she never actually got a test, as it happened, and she stayed put at home, taking paracetamol and nurofen.
“For the first couple of days I felt this is alright, it was just like a bad flu,” she said. “Day 4 and 5, I remember sitting at the edge of my bed and holding onto the edge. I had '999' dialled. I'm a solo parent, very little back up, great cousins and family in the community but nobody I could say to 'take over the kids, take over my animals, take over my house'.
The Dungarvan woman said that after getting through that night, she struggled on at home. But over the next few days she noticed her sense of taste and smell went and she would find that a simple task like going downstairs to make a cup of tea left her needing a rest and medication.
She said, like a lot of people, she became “addicted to the media” and was reading about young colleagues in healthcare all over the world who had died, including 29-year-old UK nurse Rebecca Mach who dialled 999 and left her door open, for paramedics to find her dead when they arrived.
“I lived in constant fear and in constant pain. I woke up every hour, on the hour, to try and move my neck, to try and find a comfortable position. The pain was undescribable, even with the full amount of pain killers,” said Susie.
She said her brother is her next of kin, and executor of her Will.
“I made sure I had my Will and insurance papers to hand on the kitchen table, clearly labelled, in case I was found dead in my house so he could look after my children and execute my Will for me,” she told Damien Tiernan.
She said it was in the back of her mind that dying was a real possibility. After two weeks, even a chat with someone left her exhausted.
Six months later, Susie said she still suffers serious fatigue and pain and can't walk hundreds of yards without stopping to take a breath. Her joints and muscles still hurt and what worries her, is that she would medically be described as “a mild case”.
She said her message to people was that this virus hasn't gone away and just because you're young, it doesn't mean you will “bounce back”.
She didn't know if she would have long-term respiratory or cardiac issues or even if she could even get coronavirus again.
“Let's just look after each other,” she said. “We know what we need to do – wash your hands, wear the masks. I know it's hard not to party but there's a bigger picture. We just need to sit tight and look after each other for the winter.”
“I wouldn't wish this on my worse enemy. I'm not trying to scare anyone but back in March, I didn't know what it was. I just want people to know what it actually is. Now that the stories are out there. People who are suffering need to tell people so they can avoid it.”
