Covid sufferers recall "brutal" effects of the virus

Thursday 25 March 2021

The effects of Covid-19 "can be brutal and terrifying", a couple who contracted the virus have told Express in a vivid account of their experience with the virus.

Express spoke to Julie Todd, 60, after she and her husband Martin, 62, caught the virus at the beginning of Guernsey's second wave, which the couple are still recovering from.

How did you find out you had Covid? What was it like going through that process of being tested and then receiving the positive result?

I remember it well. Guernsey was plunged into Lockdown 2 suddenly on the Saturday lunchtime. I remember saying to Martin: “We’ll be ok, we don’t go anywhere these days” and making a joke of it. How wrong I was.

We both started to get the sniffles on the Tuesday. Nothing you’d call worrying in normal times, just, well, the sniffles. This was followed the next day by a slight sore throat. Again, the normal soreness you get with a light cold, nothing scary or untoward. But Dr Brink’s voice kept ringing in my ears saying ‘If you feel slightly unwell, get tested’ so we dutifully telephoned the helpline and booked our tests.

Quite strangely (and we were naïve, so should have asked) we were given different testing days and times. I know now that we could have asked to go together, but I think everyone is slightly scared when they make the call and I certainly didn’t want to request to change things – I was just grateful to have a test arranged so I’d know one way or the other.

Pictured: Julie and Martin Todd have no other family in the island. 

As with everything in life, it’s the not knowing that’s the scary part. Once I’d booked, all I wanted was the test day to come round, so I’d know the situation, once and for all. My mind certainly raced with all possibilities. I’m 60 years old, unfit and typically one of the people you’d hear about in the national news. It was everywhere – TV, newspapers, online, radio…there was no chance of avoiding hearing about it and my anxiety levels went through the roof. What if I did have it?

We discussed where we’d been. And the honest answer is nowhere! We’d both been to work that week; Martin is a police officer and I work at Skipton, so had mixed with others in our offices. Apart from that, I’d made one trip to the local supermarket and one trip to the hedge veg stall. No pubs, no restaurants, nothing. We still have no idea where we caught it from.

"You might be lucky. I have friends who literally had no more than a sniffle. But you might not be so lucky. It can be brutal, and terrifying, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy"

The testing itself was faultless. I drove to the PEH – still feeling ok at this point, as if I had a slight cold – and had the test. It was nowhere near as intrusive as some media reports in the national tabloids had led me to believe and the staff were brilliant. Easy peasy, I thought.

And then I got the telephone call later that night. Martin had already beaten me to it with his results, so we already knew he was positive. There’s just the two of us (and the cat) so we had already decided that it was likely I’d got it as well – we were proven correct in that assumption! So we thought to ourselves we’d isolate together at home, get food deliveries arranged and have a fortnight of watching Netflix. Wrong, wrong, wrong. 

How would you describe your experience of Covid? Did you fear at any point that you wouldn’t get better?

For us, Covid was every bit as bad as the fear-mongering national newspapers shout on a daily basis. Within five days of starting the sniffles, we were in full blown Covid. Think of the worst case of flu you have ever had and double it. Getting out of bed to go to the bathroom felt like climbing a mountain. The coughing, The sweating. The head gripped by a vice. It was all those things and more. Martin suffered far more than me with his whole body aching and a loss of taste and smell, whereas I had far worse coughing and breathing issues. The nightmares and hallucinations were the worst thing though. They took me to a really dark place, somewhere I never want to go to again. Strangely, Martin didn’t have these, but I understand they are quite common. 

"It took me to a dark place I never want to go to again"

We were laid up in total for three weeks. Not two weeks, which would have been bad enough, but three solid weeks, our bodies taking such a battering and our brains simply struggling to function. We didn’t say it at the time, but we both admitted to each other afterwards that we feared we might not make it on occasions. The only word I can use for it is brutal. It’s a brutal virus and can have brutal consequences.

Who and what helped you do get through that ordeal?

We were both very supportive of each other. We have no family on the island at all, so relied on friends to drop groceries round to us (mainly just bread for toast, as that’s all we wanted most days) and work colleagues sent brilliant messages of support. Family in the UK tried to ‘Zoom’ us, but we had no energy for it – a five minute telephone call tired us out completely. The positive and regular communication from Dr Brink and the SoG comms team actually really helped during the darkest days – always upbeat, always full of ‘we’ve got this’. It genuinely did make a difference.

Pictured: Julie Todd described the testing process at the PEH was "faultless". 

Do you feel there has been lasting effects on your health, known in some circles as 'Long Covid'? Do you have a message to people who doubt the dangers of contracting Covid-19?

It’s now been four weeks since we had Covid and our energy levels are still low. We think we’re ok and carry on working or doing the chores and then suddenly a huge wave of fatigue just hits us. Martin has always liked a good walk, especially during his lunch hour at work, but he’s had no appetite for anything since Covid. My sport is swimming (indoors) so I plan to go this weekend – it’ll be interesting to see how much swimming I can manage and if it wipes me out for the rest of the day afterwards. We’re both fairly confident we don’t have ‘Long Covid’ that you read about, but I confess that the fatigue is lingering and that does worry me – I’ve got far too much I want to do to have to curtail it!

My message to anyone reading this who doubts the dangers of contracting Covid is to wake up and smell the coffee. You might be lucky. I have friends who literally had no more than a sniffle. But you might not be so lucky. It can be brutal, and terrifying, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.