Long Covid: 'I'm exhausted just by living' says former Shipley town councillor and NHS worker

Darren is one in around 1.9 million people in the UK who report living with long Covid. The condition is defined as such if a patient is still having persistent symptoms at least four weeks after a Covid infection. Common symptoms include extreme tiredness, shortness of breath, joint pain and muscle aches, heart palpitations and problems with memory and concentration.

“Every aspect of my life has been affected by it,” Darren says. “It has in many ways ruined my life. It’s had such a devastating effect. And trying to deal with that is tough. It has been difficult, and continues to be difficult, trying to find ways to cope with the grief, the loss of a life really. It’s a work in progress trying to find a way to manage and cope with that. I’m still hoping I will get better in the future but I’m not so sure...I’ve got no idea whether this is going to be the rest of my life.”

Darren fell ill with a “relatively mild” Covid infection in September 2021, which he says left him in bed for a couple of weeks with flu-like symptoms. He then improved enough to get out and about again but his energy levels remained low. “I was constantly fatigued and exhausted. I was off work for about a year at that point, trying to get my strength up,” he says.

Darren then returned to his job as a community learning disability nurse for NHS, and picked up his duties as a town councillor on Shipley Town Council. But in September 2023, his health suddenly deteriorated and he’s rarely managed to leave his home ever since.

“Fatigue is the main, biggest symptom that I have,” he says. “It is hard to describe, it’s like gravity working overtime, pushing you down constantly. From the moment I get out of bed, I feel completely and utterly exhausted just by living...It’s like my body has been poisoned, like the worst hangover you’ve ever had combined with the fatigue you might experience after you’ve run a marathon. It is just utterly draining in every single way and it’s constant.”

Darren, who receives support from the Bradford district long Covid service, is speaking out ahead of International Long Covid Awareness Day on March 15. He’s in contact with the likes of the Long Covid SOS and Long Covid Support charities, which are leading on advocacy work. Darren says more investment is needed into research to try to find treatment for the thousands of people affected and struggling. He says long Covid clinics must be funded in all areas of the country and also wants to see the establishment of a chronic illness taskforce, bringing together professionals in the field.

"Without investment in clinical trials and a commitment to understanding this disease, people like me will continue to be trapped in a cycle of illness, unemployment, and uncertainty,” Darren says.

“This is the time to highlight that there are so many people struggling with this and we can’t be forgotten about,” he adds. “We’re very invisible as a group because a lot of us are housebound…We can’t be out on the streets with placards campaigning, it’s very difficult to raise our voice. We have to do what we can do with the little energy we have to say to government you must invest in research to find treatments.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told The Yorkshire Post that long Covid can have a debilitating impact on people’s physical and mental health. “We are committed to ensuring there are quality services for people suffering with it in every part of the country,” the spokesperson said. "No single treatment currently exists for long Covid, which is why we have funded research into the condition, including clinical trials to test and compare different treatments.”