Long Covid: Runner describes 'real slog' recovery after virus bout

Steve Bladon, a keen runner, said the effects of long Covid felt like "someone has removed my batteries"

A headteacher and keen runner has said Covid-19 had left him still feeling as if "someone has removed my batteries" months after contracting the virus.

Steve Bladon, head of Horncastle Primary School, Lincolnshire, is one of an estimated 1.3 million people in the UK living with long Covid.

Symptoms vary from person to person, but Mr Bladon said the condition had left him feeling "exhausted".

He described his recuperation from coronavirus as "a real slog".

The 46-year-old, who is double-jabbed, tested positive for Covid shortly before the school Christmas break, and said he spent eight of the 10 days he had to self-isolate ill in bed.

"I wasn't at all ever thinking I was so ill that I needed to be in hospital, but it was certainly more than a cold," he said.

Mr Bladon said Covid led to a "significant change" in his resting heart rate, leaving him feeling exhausted

Following his isolation, Mr Bladon said he "felt ok" and had "just resumed normal life" in the run-up to Christmas.

He said he had also arranged to go for a run with a friend.

"Then, sometime between Christmas and new year I decided to do the same thing again by myself, and I was about a kilometre from home and I just didn't feel very good at all.

"I got in, went to bed, and really from that moment things haven't been right," he said.

• Survey suggests 1.3 million have long Covid

• What are the symptoms of long Covid?

• 'I have to choose between walking and talking'

Mr Bladon said he was still having to manage quite a few symptoms, including a "significant change" in his resting heart rate.

Getting out of a chair, or going upstairs, could make his heart rate soar, he told BBC Radio Lincolnshire.

"As a consequence of that I just feel overwhelmed with fatigue," he said.

Mr Bladon, who has four children, said he was slowly improving, but was still too ill to return to work.

"It's a bit tricky even being a dad at the moment because I have been so restricted with my fatigue," he added.

What are long Covid symptoms?

Guidance for UK health workers describes long Covid as symptoms that continue for more than 12 weeks after an infection which cannot be explained by another cause.

According to the NHS website, these can include:

• extreme tiredness

• shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain or tightness

• problems with memory and concentration ("brain fog")

• changes to taste and smell

• joint pain

People have been urged by the NHS to contact their GP if they are worried about symptoms four weeks or more after having Covid-19.