Harrogate Mayoress warns of long covid struggle months after leaving hospital
April Martin told the Covid Resilience Forum that she still struggles with her breathing six months on
Mayoress of Harrogate April Martin has warned of her struggle with long covid months after being discharged from hospital.
She struggled to get out of bed when she contracted Covid-19 and spent two weeks in hospital fighting off the deadly virus.
Mayoress Martin spoke in North Yorkshire's Covid Resilience Forum yesterday, telling the panel she still struggles with her breathing.
She said: "I got out of hospital and I could just about get up the stairs, but I had to stop three or four times to catch my breath. I was told it would take a long time to get over this.
"I had to go to bed for a rest many times a day. It's now six months on since I had covid and I still get very breathless and very tired. I was never like this before.
"It's had a huge impact on my life but also my family. What it must have been like for them and to not be able to get in touch with me while I was in hospital must have been terrible."
The Mayoress told the forum that she never expected to catch Covid-19, as she took every precaution.
She said: "I never thought it would happen to me. I was quite meticulous in my hand washing and as a former nurse it's drilled into you from day one.
"People were dying around me and I would lie there at night and think "What if it's my time tonight?"
"One consultant told me that if I needed to be resuscitated they wouldn't be able to do it because my lungs were in such a bad state. That's when it hit home that I might not be coming out of this hospital."
The number of Covid patients in Harrogate Hospital has more than doubled in the last week, leading the Trust to put out a plea on social media for people to stay home.
There are currently 46 Covid-19 in patients in the Trust, up from 19 patients just over seven days ago.
The infection rate in the borough is now at 427 per 100,000 people, with the North Yorkshire rate being 401 per 100,000 and the England average 609 per 100,000.
Richard Webb, Director of Health and Adult Services at North Yorkshire County Council, said in the meeting he wants everyone to remember the number of people who have lost their lives to Covid in the county.
He said: "276 of those 841 people have died since September. 31 people have died in the last week.
"Over 80,000 people have died from this virus in the United Kingdom - that's more people than the population of Harrogate."
Back in October, Mayor Stuart Martin told Greatest Hits he was unable to travel to hospital with his wife and that he didn't know if it would be the last time her saw her.
He said: "I had to say goodbye in the ambulance. It didn't really hit me until I got back in the house that it might have been the last time I ever spoke to her. That was a really dark moment for me.
"Anybody can catch it. We have no idea where we got it from and nearly took April away from me"
As of Tuesday there were 387 coronavirus patients being treated across North Yorkshire's hospitals - 85 above the peak of the first wave in April last year.
Amanda Bloor, NHS North Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group Accountable Officer, spoke in yesterday's North Yorkshire Covid Forum, saying that nearly 500 staff were also off work due to either having Covid or having to isolate.
She said: “We are in a dangerous situation. The number of Covid positive patients in our hospitals is well above the first wave, this is a place we did not want to be and that number is continuing to rise and the trend is upwards.
“The average daily increase is around 17 patients.
“It goes without saying that our hospitals are extremely busy responding to that demand.”