'Long Covid affects me every day, anything I do'

Living with long Covid for four years has been "horrible", a teenager has said.

Molly, who lives in Weymouth, is now 16 and said she rarely goes out. When she does she needs the help of a wheelchair as she gets tired easily.

Without dedicated NHS support in Dorset, she is planning to travel to Liverpool to attend a private clinic.

She said she has "two good days a week, maybe three, and the rest I am shut away".

Molly said the condition had made her feel "closed off from friends, from school, from anything".

"It affects me every day, anything I do," she continued.

"It's symptoms from really severe fatigue to heart palpitations, fainting, I've had seizures and allergic reactions.

"It's just communications from the brain through the nervous system not functioning properly, sending the wrong signals, which makes it really uncomfortable for people like us to live with it."

In November 2023, the Dorset Post Covid Syndrome Service - a long Covid clinic where Molly was receiving care - stopped its service for paediatric patients, only taking adults.

Children and young people were instead passed to a service for chronic fatigue.

But Molly said it was not equipped to deal with the complexities of long Covid and left her without specialist care.

"I really struggled with that because everyone is still suffering, why have they shut it down?" Molly asked.

"Just because the pandemic was over it didn't mean that the people with long Covid, all their symptoms, didn't just disappear, and that was really hard."

The Dorset Post Covid Syndrome Service is now also closing for adults from 30 June.

NHS Dorset has said: "We are leading a piece of work to ensure people who are currently supported by the service have access to the help they need, possibly through alternative routes or a different service model.

"At this stage of the process, it would be inappropriate to share these details. When we have a confirmed solution, we will inform patients."

In the absence of specialist support, Molly and her family have been doing what they can.

A support dog called Woody now helps around the house.

But in July, Molly will travel 300 miles (480km) to Liverpool to a private clinic, because the family cannot find help nearby.

Molly said she hoped a treatment for long Covid would be found but in the meantime she wanted "doctors and hospitals to be actually educated on it, and for us not to be judged".

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