A woman has shared her terrifying experience of coronavirus in an effort to get more people to take lockdown measures seriously.
Linda, who is in her 40s, was admitted to Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport on Saturday after complaining of severe symptoms of the virus.
She has been receiving oxygen for several days, and feared she was going to die, after doctors found she had pneumonia.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News from her hospital bed, Linda says she wants to remind people that the virus isn’t just “the flu.”
In an emotional plea, Linda said she had already seen one person die from the virus, and was terrified she might too.
“It just started with a cough but then it got a lot worse,” Linda said.
“I developed a pain in my head that wouldn’t go away, which then moved to my ear, and then my jaw.
“I lost my appetite, sense of smell and the symptoms just kept getting worse.
“It got to the point where I was struggling to breathe, and I could barely walk to go to the toilet.”
Linda says she visited an out of hours doctors who told her to take paracetamol and come back if her symptoms got worse.
The following day she says she had a video call with 111, but was not admitted to hospital.
“On Saturday I just couldn’t cope anymore and I called 999 for an ambulance, and they admitted me to Stepping Hill.
“I honestly thought I was going to die.”
Linda says she received a test for COVID-19 when she arrived in hospital, and tested positive.
She suffers from high blood pressure and had to be placed on oxygen after arriving at hospital.
Linda believes she has come through the worst of the virus, but is still not “out of the woods.”
“I can’t walk or go to the toilet or anything – it is so painful just to try and get out of bed,” she said.
“There isn’t much PPE here for the staff and I feel bad for them because they are working so hard. They’ve been brilliant.”
“People are not taking social distancing seriously enough, and it’s killing people.
“I have already seen one person die in this hospital from coronavirus. I thought I would die – I was so scared.
“I just want people to know how serious this can get, it’s not just the flu.” (Text and photo courtesy manchestereveningnews.co.uk)