Covid patient warns of ‘violent’ disease from hospital bed

Liz Allen posted a video for friends from her bed in the Royal Sussex County Hospital’s infectious disease ward, telling them she loved them as she struggled to breathe in an oxygen mask.

After requests, she made the video public and it has since been viewed thousands of times. Today, she spoke to Brighton and Hove News about her ordeal.

Liz, who lives in Rottingdean with her two adult sons, said: “It got me in March, and I had long Covid. I had just got back to running and boxing and getting fit again. This has just knocked me for six.

“I was really careful, sticking to the rules and not mixing with more than six people.

“I went to a friend’s house for birthday pizza and prosecco, and the next day I felt terrible. All six of us of have tested positive, and our partners.

“On Friday (20 October) I went to the hospital with severe chest pain. They did a chest x ray and sent me home.

“My GP gave me a monitor for my oxygen rates, and over the weekend, they dropped below 80.

“On Tuesday, my son found me on the floor of the bathroom and I was blue. He called an ambulance and I’ve been here ever since. I don’t really remember much.

“It’s busy in here, there’s lots of people, all the rounds are quite full.

“Yesterday I felt great and then my blood pressure dropped and they were all round me.

“They’re suggesting I’m in for another week, taking it slowly with oxygen and taking me off gradually.

“The staff in here are absolutely incredible, they have been so amazing. I was really ill this morning I have a friend I didn’t realise was on this ward and I woke up to find her holding my hand.

“My sons are really worried at home. I’m worried they’re struggling with their mental health. I have just got to keep myself strong.”

In the Facebook video, posted on Saturday, Liz explained she was not doing the video to scaremonger but because so many people were asking how she is.

She said: “It’s violent and there are people getting it twice. I’m not doing this to scaremonger or any more attention but everyone keeps asking me if I’m better and I’m not. Not yet, it’s going to be a little while.

“The good news is that there’s no blood clots on my lungs but you can actually see all the crackles, the covid and the pneumonia, it’s like crazy paving in your lungs.

“I love you all.”

The most up to date figures for coronavirus cases in Brighton and Hove appear to show a slight dip in recent days – but this follows several weeks of steep rises, with the seven-day average rate per 100,000 now at 157.8 – almost 15 times the rate two months ago.

From Thursday, along with the rest of England, Brighton and Hove goes back into lockdown. City council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty has called on people to come together.

He said: “I understand the frustration so many of you will already feel facing this new set of restrictions. However, I know our city can once again rise to this important challenge to protect the ones we love.

“In the days before restrictions set in, I also want to urge each of us to consider how we can keep transmissions low. Now is sadly not the time to increase our contacts, and although difficult, we can all act together to prevent the spread of the virus.

“We cannot be complacent about covid and as a city we have done well to keep the rate of transmission lower than elsewhere in the country. I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone for working so hard, changing the way we live and being kind to others during the pandemic. This really makes a difference and will save lives.

“But if there is one place I know will rise to the challenge it’s the city we all love. Brighton and Hove’s communities have already shown steely commitment and will once again pull together.

“We will work to prevent this deadly disease reaching the most vulnerable in our society. I know this has been incredibly tough – eight months on from the start, it’s arguably tougher. But let’s pull together and stick together.”