A firsthand account from a woman battling coronavirus describes the intense physical distress experienced while fighting the deadly virus that has swept through the world, claiming thousands of lives.
Mandy Charlton, a 46-year-old mother of three and photographer, was admitted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle with a temperature exceeding 38 degrees Celsius. She described the sensation as feeling like she had ‘swallowed glass’ and her entire body being ablaze.
During her battle with the virus, Mandy revealed that she spent 20 hours a day sleeping and relied on paracetamol for recovery. She often woke up drenched in sweat and feeling exhausted.
Mandy shared her experience with Metro UK, stating: ‘I know my temperature was once 37.9 and once over 39. I have a weird dry cough which hurts. My body has felt like it has been on fire, waking up drenched, horrible. I’ve had flu before but this was something else. When it came to the hospital saying I was well enough to go home and self-isolate, I asked how I would get home.’
‘They said I could wait nine hours whilst they tried to get some isolation transport or I could ask a friend. I had a panic attack at that point, thankful for my best friend who risked her own health to get me home. I don’t for one moment blame the doctors or the nurses, I wholly place the blame on the government.’
Mandy believes she contracted the virus from one of her daughters. Following her diagnosis, she spent one night in the hospital before being discharged to go home into isolation.
Recounting her hospital experience, Mandy expressed concern for the healthcare workers, stating: ‘One of the nurses said I was lucky to be admitted when I was. At the moment they’re coping, but in a few weeks they won’t be. The porters weren’t even given masks. I asked one of them and he said the day before they’d had to wear plastic visors but then on that day, Friday, they’d been told they would be fine without any protection. The paramedics were having to borrow masks and aprons as they’d run out.’