Dorset mum and daughter bed-ridden and fatigued due to 'long Covid'

MPs heard from three parents from across the country at an all-party parliamentary group public hearing on children with long Covid - including Sammie Mcfarland, from Dorchester.

The hearing heard how children have sustained breathing problems, had broke out in rashes and that their feet ‘felt funny’ when walking after contracting Covid-19.

Daughter became 'very weak and floppy' and 'started to look very pale'

Sammie Mcfarland spoke to MPs and Lords about 'long Covid' and its effects on herself and daughter. Picture: Sammie Mcfarland

Mrs Mcfarland told the hearing, chaired by Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, how she and her daughter, Kitty, have been ill with Covid-19 for more than 10 months after they contracted coronavirus in March 2020.

Her 15-year-old self-isolated in her room after she developed a ‘very mild cough’ and later had a mild temperature and felt 'very achey and tired’.

Mrs Mcfarland said: “During the course of self-isolation in her room, she started to have a vacant expression and it was hard to communicate with her.

“She became very weak and floppy and she started to look very pale, and have very dark circles under her eyes.

“She was really not wanting to eat and it was a little while that she was like that before she became quite unresponsive and that’s when we got more concerned.

“We did at that point call 111 and their only response was that if she is breathing OK, she needs to stay at home so we continued to manage her symptoms at home.”

Effects of long Covid after initial recovery

Kitty, 15, was described as an active teenager before she caught coronavirus.

Mrs Mcfarland recalled Kitty made a recovery after two to three weeks, but noted that when they went for walks, she would complain of feeling tired and want to remain in bed.

She continued: “We didn’t really think too much of it at first. Then we did some gentle exercise in the garden as a family and we felt she needed some geeing up after being unwell.

“It was during that gentle session that she started clinching her chest and complaining of heart pain.

“She went very pale and very floppy and almost didn’t make it back into the house to be able to get back into her bed. She then pretty much stayed there for the next seven months.”

Mrs Mcfarland observed her daughter was ‘very weak’ and fatigued and unable to hold her head up. When she left her bed, she had to use the walls or family members to support her to walk to the toilet, shower or walk around the house.

She noted that Kitty has ‘started to turn a corner’ in her recovery and found through private testing that she is missing certain key minerals and vitamins and is unable to properly absorb the foods she eats. Kitty’s eyesight has also suffered and she has a heart murmur.

Prior to the current lockdown, Kitty was able to spend two to three hours at school nearly every day and would take days off for health reasons to recover. She is currently interacting with school lessons via Zoom when she has the energy to do so.

“We (including all family members) have not fully recovered, but we have seen some improvements”, she added.

Long Covid experience ‘really difficult for everyone involved’

MPs heard from parents across the country at the All-Party Group on Coronavirus' evidence session on the effects of long Covid in children on Tuesday, January 26. Picture: Zoom/Parliament

Mrs Moran described Mrs Mcfarland’s experience as ‘really difficult for everyone involved’ and thanked her for her contribution. She also observed that further research was needed into the efforts of long Covid in children and adults, which currently does not exist.

Mrs Mcfarland, who is the founder of Long Covid Kids, noted that she ran a survey on the prevalence of long Covid, which received 222 responses. She reported ‘large numbers’ of people reported long-term effects of coronavirus and more than 100 symptoms had been reported.

Recalling her own experience, she believes that schools need to better understand the long term of coronavirus on children's health. She also observed that Kitty’s mental health and education has been impacted by her constant fatigue.

Sammie and Kitty McFarland currently take vitamins every day to try and ease the symptoms of long Covid.

'It’s a really dreadful situation and it is an outrage'

coronavir

Lord Paul Strasburger paid tribute to Mrs Mcfarland and the other parents’ contributions, describing them as ‘brave’ and vowed to support them.

He said: “We admire what you are doing and what you have done – I can’t believe you’re still at it.

“You all very brave and this is a national scandal. You have all been ignored, you have been marginalised, you have been disbelieved and you have not been offered any treatment for you or children.

“You have not been offered any support. You are not being offered any interest.

“It’s a really dreadful situation and it is an outrage.”

When asked if she could deliver a message to the Government, Mrs Mcfarland said: “I would ask the Government to recognise that this virus is transmitted by aerosol transmission because until they do, how are we going to stop people getting infected?

“We do not want other families to share our story, we do not want a generation of long-term health conditions on these children.

“Just please please recognise it.”

MP to speak to Prime Minister about research into long Covid among children

Mrs Moran thanked the three parents for their ‘interesting moving contributions’ and said the committee aims to be ‘the voice of those unheard’ and hopes to support them and other affected families.

She said: “From this, we will be writing to the Prime Minister about recommendations that fall out of what you have been calling for and the evidence you have given, and what we are gathering.

“We are also going to have a further session on transmissibility in children, picking up on some of the scientific aspects of what you have been raising.

“The Government is making decisions now about reopening schools before or after Easter and we want to make sure we are feeding in the latest evidence and truths that we know into that conversation.”