Thread by @loscharlos

“Mr O’Connell said the Government statement that #LongCovid in kids is rare, and they tend to recover’ was very upsetting for their family.”

“It's not that rare and my kid hasn’t recovered”newstalk.com/news/long-covi…

“He's gone from the first instance with mild symptoms – he recovered but wasn't 100% – to the second time he got it, his symptoms increased dramatically.” #LongCovid

Mr O’Connell said prior to Jake contracting COVID, he was a very energetic young boy.

“Every weekend we were at parks we were [playing] football, we were [playing] Frisbees, we were out and about,” he said. #LongCovid

“When you go to a birthday party with a child, the first thing they'll do is say, ‘Can we stay five more minutes?’ He will literally be there about an hour and say, ‘When are we going home?’” #LongCovidKids

Mr O’Connell said the illness has meant “there were times I have to carry him up the stairs to bed, or I have to cut up his food and help him and spoon feed him, or I have to I have to help him brush his teeth because he's too tired.” #LongCovid

“He's just a broken little boy.”

“I had to readjust my way of thinking looking at his little life; he’s not going to be able to do all of these things. He’s falling behind in everything.” #LongCovidKids

“There's nothing in place and there's no training for GPs [in Ireland].”

“The fact is that the HSE won't even engage until you're over 16, there's no support.” #LongCovid

We know this is going to continue to happen to so many kids, but our only response right now is “I just hope it’s not mine”