SPORT WAS MY LIFE

Football, basketball, hockey, rugby, volleyball – you name it, Eric Morris has played it. And wife Jean supported from the sidelines. Now Eric has Long COVID, Jean has stepped up to full time carer, coach and as Eric puts it ‘The Colonel’.

Eric trained as a PE teacher, becoming head of a primary school in Sefton. A car accident in 1996 left him with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and he had to retire due to ill health two years later. He admits ‘sport was my life.’ Since the accident Eric has been diagnosed with multiple health conditions.

The couple were active, fundraising for charity and hosting community events, however Eric was classed as vulnerable during the pandemic, so they shielded.

It felt like a really bad dose of the ‘flu. It took the legs from under me.

“One of our sons was still living with us but we didn’t see our daughter and other son properly for almost two years”, said Jean. “The only contact with our three granddaughters was when we were helping teach them online during home schooling.”

Eric had avoided COVID until last January. He was invited for a routine cataract operation and tested positive a day after returning home. His symptoms were a high temperature, a cough, headache, sore throat and lethargy.

“I just flopped,” said Eric. “It felt like a really bad dose of the ‘flu. It took the legs from under me.”

Jean takes over the talking as Eric’s breathing becomes laboured. She describes how after he tested negative, he wasn’t eating or drinking well and couldn’t walk any distance without gasping for breath. Eric can’t remember much from this time – brain fog is a symptom of Long COVID.

Jean eventually convinced him to speak to his GP and he was sent for blood tests and

a chest X-ray. Eric continued to deteriorate and one night Jean called an ambulance fearing he had suffered a heart attack.

Eventually Eric was referred to the new Long COVID service and, following assessments, has now been offered pulmonary rehabilitation.

Physiotherapist Lara Grant explains: “COVID can affect all systems and breathing can become less effective, so we retrain the patient to breath properly.”

Eric demonstrates breathing down in his diaphragm as he praises the team who are helping him on the slow road to recovery.

He is hoping for help to improve his mobility and get him stronger. “I am wobbly on my feet,” he says. “COVID has really affected my balance.”

He has been tested for POTS and is awaiting an appointment with a social prescriber, who will help the couple apply for benefits now that Jean has become Eric’s full time carer.

“It’s impacted our whole family life,” says Jean. “Every day the kids are checking in asking ‘how’s dad?’”

SARAH’S STORY

Sarah Thwaite from Healthwatch is a member of the Long COVID partnership. She’s also suffered with the condition. Sarah fell ill with COVID-19 in March 2020. Mysterious symptoms, extreme fatigue, and the end of her daily routine became the ‘norm’.

Read Sarah’s blog about her attempts to rebuild her life and strength at: liverpoolexpress.co.uk/tag/sarah-thwaites/