A Creetown man is calling for better support for people suffering from long Covid.
John McClelland and wife Susan both contracted coronavirus on their return from America at the start of last year.
Both have suffered from symptoms ever since with John – who has a chronic lung condition – being impacted so severely that he is having to give up wheelchair curling.
The former barber, who has joined Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland’s Long Covid Support Group, feels better support and information should be available for both suffers and medical staff.
The 52-year-old, who is chairman of the Scottish Wheelchair Curling Association, said: “There’s not enough information out there. I accept it’s a very new condition, but people need some guidance.
“I also appreciate that GPs are very busy – I’m lucky to have a very good relationship with mine – but so many people need help now and GPs are the obvious place to start.
“I know what it’s like to have to give up work. I spent 25 years building up my barber’s business.
“When I had to give up work, we lived on our savings, but they are all gone, and now we only have disability benefit to live on.
“A bit of financial support from the government for those who are now in that same place would be ideal. People need help. They need their symptoms to be taken seriously and they need to know they’re not in financial danger if they can’t work.”
John had to give up his barber’s business a decade ago because of his lung condition. When treatment damaged his bones, he had to use a wheelchair and he decided to take up disability sports, representing Scotland at wheelchair curling.
But more than a year after he and Susan first contracted coronavirus, they are still living with the effects of long Covid, which means John’s giving up his sport.
He said: “Before I got Covid-19, I was in the gym five times a week.
“Now I can hardly get out of bed.
“It’s been more than a year and I still have feelings of numbness and pins and needles on the left side of my body. I’ve been waiting almost a year for a neurological referral. I still have no sense of taste or smell.
“My GP referred me for physio, but the physio said there was nothing more they could do.
“That seems to be the answer to everything. In this area, there is no follow-up for people like me – no clinic to be sent to, no help with managing long Covid.
“I was eventually referred on to Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, and the Long Covid Support Group has been a help, if only to hear how other people are managing and what types of treatment they are trying.”
Chief executive of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, Jane-Claire Judson, said: “Long Covid continues to have a significant social and economic impact in Scotland, and yet there is still a woeful lack of understanding and care available for those coping with it on a daily basis.
“We know from speaking with members of our long Covid support groups that they feel scared, abandoned and left behind.
“We will continue to support those living with long Covid through our services and support groups, as well as calling on the Scottish Government to provide better access to services such as our ‘mytailoredtalks’ long Covid support pathway.”
