Thread by @75ThunderRoad

Why do I keep speaking out about Covid?

Why do I think clean indoor air is imperative for schools?

Let me tell you a story.

I was 46 when I first caught Covid.

It changed my life and turned our family's world upside down.

🧵

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I was formerly fit and active.

I loved running.

I used to run before work three times a week, and I enjoyed parkrun every Saturday. I usually finished in the top ten and was often first in my age category. (Not that it was a race!)

3/

I was healthy.

I'd lived with mild asthma since childhood, but it was well managed and seldom a problem.

I'd had IBS for ten years but, again, it was well managed.

Thanks to my good health, I had impeccable attendance at work, in all my jobs, for over 25 years.

4/

I was passionate about my job. It was a privilege to serve.

I had a strong work ethic and a career which formed a huge part of my identity.

I loved my work as a primary school headteacher. All I'd ever wanted to do was make a difference to children's lives.

5/

We had a busy family life.

I'm a father of four. When I first fell ill, our children were aged 5 to 13.

I adored spending time with my wife and children. Life was non-stop but there was plenty of fun.

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A couple of years prior to falling ill, we had bought an old house with a beautiful garden. Our new home was to be a long term renovation project. In my spare time, I loved decorating and working on our house and garden.

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That all seems a lifetime ago.

I'm 50 now. The last four years have been tremendously difficult.

They have, at different points, been terrifying, sad, confusing and lonely.

I've lost my health, my career, friendships, our financial security, my ability to run...

8/

...and much more besides.

That Covid infection in December 2021 wreaked havoc with my body and my life.

The virus triggered an explosion of health problems. I said early on to my wife that I felt my battery had been unplugged, my body had been poisoned & my brain rewired.

9/

That Covid infection left me with Long Covid.

Long Covid is a broad term with a myriad of subconditions & symptoms.

What I also have is:
Covid induced ME/CFS
Dysautonomia
Mitochondrial dysfunction
Mitral valve prolapse (leaking heart valve)
and a suppressed immune system.

10/

As a result of the above, my baseline health is poor & volatile. I suffer regular episodes of post-exertional malaise, which are utterly debilitating. The latest one lasted eight weeks.

My new life consists of pacing, micro-pacing and trying to avoid PEM triggers.

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I've had almost 4 years trying to navigate this illness. I've been through the Long Covid clinic twice & the ME/CFS service once. I've been discharged from each service having apparently had all they could offer me. My medical records note I made "a slight recovery" in 2022.

12/

I'm not under anyone's ongoing care.

I have medication for my heart, but only after having seem a cardiologist privately. My tachycardia, at least, is under control.

A neurologist recently recommended graduated exercise and counselling ("you need to think positively!")...

13/

I left my job as a headteacher over two and a half years ago.

I had originally intended to take a year long break - some time to rest and recover.

I rested as much as I could. I absorbed ideas and recommendations for recovery.

But that alone hasn't been enough.

14/

But I've had to accept that I can't return to school leadership. My career is over.

I'm currently in no-man's land, deemed neither ill enough to take ill health retirement nor well enough to hold down a regular job.

So what's my status?

I'm a house husband now.

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Over the last couple of years, Ive taken on a few small voluntary commitments, which I can work around my health.

These commitments give me a small sense of purpose, like I have some contribution to society.

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But it's all very hard.

I'm not the man I was.

I'm not the husband I was.

I'm not the dad I was.

I'm blessed with an incredible, loving family. Their devotion and support has kept me going. But it's tough for them too.

None of us asked for this.

17/

I can't take my kids for bike rides.

I can't chase them in the garden, round the park or along the beach.

For a long time, I couldn't even brush my daughters' long hair. I couldn't carry them up to bed.
That hurt, in both ways.

We'll never get those missed moments back.

18/

Four years of chronic illness has taken its toll.

Four years of unreplenishing sleep has taken its toll.

Four years of dysfunctional breathing has taken its toll.

Four Covid infections have taken their toll.

But still I cling on to hope.

19/

Around the world, there are millions of people like me, trying to navigate a new life, post-Covid.

There are at least a hundred thousand children with this awful condition in England and Scotland, and well over a million adults.

Many are suffering much more than me.

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I know many other people who have lost their jobs and careers after Covid led to Long Covid.

Some have lost their marriages & their homes.

Some need wheelchairs now.

Some have carers.

Some are bedbound.

Many people will develop Long Covid today and more tomorrow...

21/

As I'm drafting this thread, Boris Johnson is appearing at the UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

The former Prime Minister once wrote the word "bollocks' on a report about Long Covid.

Pathogens are harmful.

Ignorance is harmful too.

22/

As I finish drafting this thread, I'm fighting a lung infection.

My family and I had Covid again last month.

Secondary infections are par of the course for me.
(But not just for me.)

My immune system doesn't work like it used to.

I hope I can fight this off.

23/

I've watched, this week, as some schools have proudly posted on social media about their attendance campaigns.

I've watched, these last few years, as presenteeism in education has led to perverse, counter-productive policies and fuelled harm.

It's an utter travesty.

24/

Why do I keep speaking out about Covid?

It's because Covid isn't just a cold.
It never was.

Covid is a dangerous virus.

It affects your central nervous system.

It can change your immune system.

It's cardiovascular.

It can attack any organ it wants to.

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A single Covid infection can cause long term harm and irreparable permanent damage.

Repeat infections simply increase the risk of long term harm (and not just from Long Covid).

Covid can change your life.

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Why do I think clean air is a good idea?

Covid is caused by SARS-CoV-2, transmitted in airborne pathogens.

After more than five years, Covid is still rife and it's still causing incalculable harm.

Inaction and apathy have led to harm being normalised here in the UK.

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Transmission has now become an everyday feature of life in school, hospitals, workplaces and most public environments.

It's an unwelcome, dangerous, cruel feature.

Some people think this is just inevitable.

Some people think we should just accept this.

We shouldn't.

28/

We know that we can make an enormous difference with purifiers and HEPA filters.

We know that these reduce the transmission of airborne pathogens, as well as reducing allergens and pollutants.

We know that this means reducing the spread and harm of Covid.

We know this.

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We know we can protect people more than we currently are and we know we can reduce the scale of suffering.

Why wouldn't we want to protect our children?

Why wouldn't we want to protect all children?

Why wouldn't we want to have safer, healthier schools?

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Why wouldn't we want to try to reduce the risk of harm to ourselves and to others?

Why?

What has happened to me can happen to anyone, of any age, anywhere.

You wouldn't want this.

I wouldn't want this for anyone.

END.