A MOTHER has spoken out about the devastating impact long Covid has had on her family’s life and she warned others about the seriousness of the condition.

Kim Eyles from Hurworth, near Darlington, was first diagnosed with coronavirus on March 17 last year, but 19 months on, there is still no end in sight for the 41-year-old, who was working as a medical receptionist when she first contracted the disease.

She is now unable to work and the most simple of tasks have become “exhausting”, whilst the medical complications from her battle are also excessive.

Mrs Eyles said: “I have damage to the nerves in my spine, bad scarring on the lungs, difficulty with mobility and breathing, cardiovascular problems, brain fog, loss of feeling in my fingers, a cough and slurred speech. I could go on.

“Even simple things like showering are now time-consuming and exhausting tasks. It’s completely turned my life upside down. It’s become part of our life as a family and it’s just changed everything.”

Medical experts have classified Long Covid as the illness when people continue to experience symptoms of Covid lasting more than four weeks after the first suspected coronavirus episode, which can’t be explained by another illness or condition.

The Office for National Statistics reported in April 2021 that, nationally 1.1 million people are experiencing symptoms of what has been named ‘Long Covid’ or ‘post-Covid syndrome’.

Before getting Covid, the only underlying health condition Kim had was asthma. She used to use an inhaler once a day. Now she uses three.

Knowing that her ten-year-old daughter has watched her mother endure such a debilitating illness has been “very upsetting and difficult.”

Mrs Eyles said: “This has been a big cause of stress for my family. I want people to be aware of how serious this illness can be. I’ve been vaccinated twice but I worry if I get Covid again it will be the end of me.

“Hearing my daughter come home from school and say that some of the children don’t think Covid is real is pretty devastating when it’s had an impact on my whole body.

“Long Covid is not something that only affects the elderly and the vulnerable. I’m 41 and I was fine before all this.”

With social distancing measures being dropped, she said: “It’s frustrating because so many people seem to think the pandemic is all over when it’s not.”

She was however quick to note that the support she has had from NHS consultants, physios and therapists has been amazing.

“I’ve been seeing specialists at the hospital and they’ve been really fantastic.”

Dr Jen Steel, GP and medical director for community services for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We know that a growing number of patients who have suffered from Covid-19 are still struggling with symptoms ranging from breathlessness, chronic fatigue, neurological symptoms, anxiety and stress, some of whom are unable to return to work even after several months.

“Thankfully, most people will make a full recovery without medical intervention, but this may take weeks or even months.

“However, for some the symptoms continue and can have an impact on their quality of life.

“As it is such a new condition, we are providing care at the same time as conducting research both locally and nationally which will help develop NHS services in the longer term.”

Michael Laing, Director of Integrated Community Services for the County Durham Care Partnership, added: “It was really important that we used our collaborative strengths to work across the system with partners from primary, secondary and mental health because we knew that the symptoms that patients were suffering with were really quite broad with a real difference in perception of how those suffering were managing symptoms themselves.

“It’s another example of The County Durham Care Partnership being ahead of the curve as we’ve realised assessing Long Covid sufferers in a clinic was just the beginning of a new journey in care. It was vital that we took the next step to be able to offer patients effective, long-term treatment to manage this new and fast-growing condition.”

A spokesperson for County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said: “Work began on a new system of care for the condition, realising that Long Covid presented increased need for collaborative working across specialties and across the wider healthcare system.”