A Scots man who had coronavirus the day the first lockdown began has urged people to stick to the rules as he continues to suffer long Covid symptoms 10 months on.
Callum O’Dwyer, 29, is still struggling with side-effects from contracting the virus in March last year.
The oil and gas worker from Aberdeen had went home from work on March 23 after the office closed as Covid cases began to spread.
He recalls falling asleep from exhaustion and woke up to the news of a national lockdown being announced by Boris Johnson on TV.
(Image: Handout)
He said: “The office was being closed so I’d gone back to get my things.
“I came home and was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep. I woke up to Boris and Nicola announcing the lockdown.
“It was a weird sensation, I really don’t think I’ve felt being sick like that.”
“I was told twice that my condition wasn’t serious enough to come into hospital.
“I struggled to get a test at first as the whole system was creaking with the pressure.”
Callum had recently bought a flat in Aberdeen before being struck down with coronavirus.
He was forced to move back in with his parents after he found he was unable to care for himself.
The 29-year-old said he was left struggling to get out of bed, and could barely feed or clean himself after he was overwhelmed by fatigue brought on by the virus.
Since then Callum has suffered the effects of ‘long Covid’ with intense breathlessness, fatigue and what he describes as ‘brain fog’ and the inability to think clearly.
He said: “It is getting better but my life has now totally changed.
“I had to drive 45 minutes and hang about my flat for the boiler recently and I came home after and was wiped out.
“I had to rest for about four hours just drinking water to recover.
“But a few months ago I’d probably still be recovering into the second day.”
He continued: “I was quite a fit guy- I’d run 5k and 10k and was in alright shape.
“That’s gone now and it now can take me hours to recover from doing something minor like driving a short distance or emptying the dishwasher.
“You wouldn’t wish this on anyone so it is really important we stick to the rules for now.”
Now entering his third lockdown, he is urging Scots to follow the rules on travel and wearing face masks so the country can get back to normal as quickly as possible.
He continued: “I think there has been a bit of complacency creeping in as the pandemic has continued.
“We have been in this for ten months and people just can’t see the end to it.
“But with the vaccine there is light at the end of the tunnel, the vaccine is like someone ringing the bell at the bar- it’s last orders for the virus.
He added: “You can see London’s hospitals are creaking with the pressure so it is important we all do all we can to reduce that on our local health boards.
“And that is one of the major problems with the pandemic- other health outcomes have to be postponed.
“We all need to just pull together now- we’re almost there.”
-- to www.dailyrecord.co.uk
