When George Garton made his England debut in the T20I series against the West Indies in January 2022, it should have signalled the start of another landmark year in his career.
The left-arm seamer had enjoyed an impressive 2021 which saw him earn a call-up to England's ODI squad, win the inaugural edition of The Hundred with Southern Brave and receive an IPL deal with Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore.
However, Garton ended up having what he describes as the "worst season of my career" and admits he was left "thinking I might not be able to do this any more" after being misdiagnosed with long Covid.
The Sussex star missed out on an ODI debut in 2021 after catching Covid and caught it again ahead of his England debut. After returning home following a holiday in America with his Dad, Garton found himself struggling to train properly ahead of the new county season.
"It was like running into a brick wall - my body started shaking quite violently and I thought I’d pass out," he told the Telegraph. And after undergoing a series of tests, doctors diagnosed him with long Covid.
"When someone says 'long Covid', you are not sure what is wrong," he added. "It seems to be a blanket statement. It's, 'Oh I feel tired' but everyone can feel tired and, even though it was such a different fatigue, it doesn't feel like a proper injury.
"With almost all other injuries, there is a time-frame. If it's two days or two years, our brain can process it. That was the worst thing. I was being told that they were 99 percent sure I'd get better but no one knows. I was just waking up every day hoping I would feel alright."
Garton resumed playing, but continued to struggle and even contemplated an early retirement at the age of just 25. "Within yourself as a sportsman, you know your 100 per cent and, if you can't do that, it's more torture to keep playing than not do it at all," he said.
However, Garton has since learned he was likely misdiagnosed and actually had a blood clot on his lung. "It was a huge weight off my shoulders because I'd been worrying about this unknown thing that I would potentially never get better from," he added.
"To think I've been playing all that time with a blood clot was actually quite an achievement irrespective of how I performed. To have such a period out, feeling so bad and thinking I might not be able to do this any more, my hunger and desire to make the most of the opportunity is through the roof."
