‘It felt like I was living in a bad dream and I couldn’t wake up’

A FRONTLINE worker from Ashbourne who tested positive for Covid-19 along with two other family members says that having the virus was like “being in a bad dream she couldn’t wake up from.”

Claire Twomey (33), a domestic abuse key worker in a women’s refuge says she “felt like she was dying” as symptoms escalated and the infection took hold of her body.

Claire’s father Joe (65) and mother Nora (60), also contracted the virus last month.

The Ashbourne woman admits being “terrified” of losing her mum who spent nine days on a ventilator in ICU in The Mater Hospital fighting for her life. She has since stabilised and is now recovering in a high dependency unit.

An emotional Claire has praised the medical team that continues to care for her mother who she describes as “guardian angels”. She is also calling for an end to the stigma and shame surrounding the virus. She said:

“It has been an emotional rollercoaster, being sick ourselves with so much fear and pain for my mam and not knowing what was going on has been horrific.

“It felt like I was living in a bad dream and I couldn’t wake up. It was a complete nightmare.

“Mam has overcome an immense battle with this and at one point we were afraid of losing her. She is our whole world and it was terrifying.

“Hospital staff have told her that she is a hero for beating this, she has been so strong. We are so proud of her.

“It was the hardest thing in the world not to be able to be there beside her and hold her hand through this.

“We want people to know how serious and scary this is.

“We are all healthy individuals with no under lying conditions, we adhered to social distancing and we followed the preventative guidelines, yet we still contracted the virus.”

Claire describes what it was like having Covid-19.

“We all had different symptoms and it affected the three of us in different ways.

“Dad and I are so incredibly lucky, we really only had three dreadful days with the virus.

“Both mam and dad developed symptoms at the end of last month and on Saturday March 28th I took them to A&E where we were all tested for Covid-19.

“Some hours later they gave my dad a self-isolation pack and they allowed us to go home but told us they were going to keep mam in as a precaution because she had a fever and because something showed up on her chest x-ray.

“We went home and got a couple of hours sleep and mam rang to say that tests results had come back as positive. An hour or so later an amazing nurse called Suzanne who was our guardian angel through this time called and told us that me and dad had tested positive too.

“We were in complete shock. She explained that because me and dad had mild to moderate symptoms that we would be monitored remotely from the hospital and they were keeping mam in.

“At this point I still didn’t really believe it was happening because I didn’t have symptoms other than headaches in previous days and some sinus congestion that I always get every year.

“A day or two later I got really bad and I could not lift my head off the pillow, it felt like my body was on fire, my temperature was 38.8 and the paracetamol was not working.

“I couldn’t swallow and I started to get a little bit of a chesty kind of a cough, I was really panicking because I thought this isn’t breaking and I can’t cough it up.”

The most difficult part for Claire was not being able to comfort her mother as she fought to survive in ICU.

“We were just so upset because she’s our mam and she’s the last person who deserves to be in there by herself, that was the most horrifying thing about it.

“She is the kindest, most un-selfish person I know, with the world’s biggest heart and she is never in a bad mood.

“It made me realise that my mam is the most precious thing that I have and her whole life is devoted to us and she has put all of us ahead of her.

Claire can’t praise the medical team that saved her mother’s life enough.

“The care that my mam has received from the Mater has been phenomenal. She is getting stronger everyday now.

“The hospital is putting a series of supports in place for her but we are looking at six weeks at least until she is back to herself.

“Nurses and doctors who cared for her have been coming to the high dependency unit to meet her and say hello We are deeply indebted to these people for keeping her safe.”

The Twomey family say they would never have gotten through this experience without support and urge people positive for the virus to reach out for help.

“This is the hardest thing that we have ever gone through as a family. There is also shame surrounding this, I felt shame having the virus but no one should feel like that because anyone can get it.

“I would say to anyone that is having to self-isolate in a bedroom for two weeks by themselves whilst being ill to tell people, tell your friend, tell your neighbour, because that who is going to pull you through this.

“Myself, my dad and my sister Sinead who lives in Dunshaughlin would not have gotten through this if it wasn’t for the incredible family, friends and neighbours that we have.

“My dad brothers and sisters, our neighbour Suzie next door, Sean and Colette and all the people who text or phoned on a regular basis kept us afloat.

“Our hearts are with anyone who is unlucky enough to be starting this Covid journey.

“We’d urge you to reach out to people so that they can help you through this and remind yourself everyday that you will out the other side of it soon.”