When John Cairns, a 43-year-old dad of three from Comber, contracted COVID in January 2021, it started off as what seemed like a normal cold or flu. But after three weeks, it hadn’t gone away. In fact, his symptoms only got worse, and in the first few months, he had to attend A&E three times. His condition is still ongoing.
His symptoms have included a chesty cough, which then changed into shortness of breath even after mild activity, along with aching joints, back pain, pins and needles, burning sensations and heavy legs.
John could never have anticipated being struck down by a long-term respiratory illness at such a young age. “I’m 43 and I need to plan my day to limit the number of things I do to try and get through the day a bit more easily. If I do around 3,000 to 4,000 steps in a day, I am wiped out for 2 or 3 days. Even picking the kids up from school takes me so long and then I’m knackered. I’ve had to try and adapt my life around this illness.”
“It’s a completely different life now.”
John was referred to NICHS by his GP and completed our 6 week Taking Control Self-Management programme for Long COVID sufferers. “The Taking Control Programme was excellent. I found it really useful during the early stage of me living with Long COVID. The information around pacing yourself, resting, relaxing, trying not to overdo things, and setting mini goals was very beneficial. Hearing from others living with chronic illnesses, not just COVID, and getting tips and suggestions from this was also very helpful.”
“I also formed lasting friendships - there is one other guy who I met in the group who I still connect with today and we share advice and information. It helped that I felt I wasn’t alone, that I had a bit of support which was very needed.”
John is passionate about advocating for Long COVID sufferers and has voiced concerns about the amount of support that is available for people like him, especially as the rest of the world returns to ‘normality’ post pandemic. He says, “This is the first time I’ve had any health issues and I feel the standard of care is nowhere near good enough. I’ve been waiting around 18 months for an urgent respiratory referral and I’m no further on. I’m lucky I’ve been able to use some private healthcare but what about others who don’t have this? The news now talks about the worst of the pandemic being over and getting back to normal. I think that’s great but what about me and the twenty thousand other people affected by Long COVID left without much help or treatment? So many of us are still suffering with little support and the support we do get we often have to find ourselves. Without NICHS there would be very little. It’s so frustrating.”
For John, despite the fact that life has been altered completely by Long COVID, he has continued fighting to recover and through managing his condition, has been able to go back to working part time. “My employers have been very supportive. I’ve worked there for 20 years. I’ve had an Occupational Therapist working with me every couple of weeks through work, and at the moment I’m doing 12 hours a week over 3 days, with recovery days in between. It’s a long way from where I used to be but it’s something.”
“I don’t know where I would be without the support of my family, my work and charities like NICHS.”
