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00:00My name is Sarah McDougall. I was the fourth critically ill patient in Rigmore Hospital with COVID.
00:11It was at the GP, they suspected I had COVID and I was put up to Rigmore to the COVID ward.
00:19The consultant said to me, the best thing that we can do is put you to sleep.
00:23If I had been a lot brighter and more with it, I would have liked it.
00:26I hate hospitals and needles.
00:31I thought it was aliens at me because of them wearing the protective equipment.
00:39They had on the goggles, the face masks, the double gloves, everything.
00:43My mum, she's got from a nursing background, I think she sort of knew what I'd be going through.
00:48But the likes of Harry, my dad, I think it was very hard for them to cope.
00:53My husband Harry, I don't think he would ever see me again.
00:56And when he says that to me, it's frightening.
00:59And then when I got out of Rigmore, my mum saw me and she couldn't believe that I couldn't walk.
01:04My mobility was poor.
01:05I remember Harry took me down to Gamileys and we saw the Tesco petrol sign at 99 pence.
01:11I thought, wow, hasn't been up for a long time.
01:14And then my mum took me out in her car two weeks after I got home, just to see the town.
01:19Because I didn't believe them that everything was shut.
01:21And again, it was like, nah, it's just a dream I'm having.
01:24It hasn't happened to me, you know.
01:29People say to you, oh, you look really well.
01:32I'm like, oh, they don't know the half of what I'm going through.
01:35Or the frustration it gets me that I can't do it on my own or need help in the house.
01:39Dad, he helps me in my food shop every week.
01:42And mum takes me still to appointments at Rigmore.
01:45It really never sank into me until the summer of 2020.
01:51Because then the post-traumatic stress kicked in and I thought, this can't be right.
01:54There's something not right with me.
01:56So I got medical help when I was diagnosed with long COVID.
01:59And also post-traumatic stress.
02:01And still battling long COVID.
02:03Four and a half years, nearly five years on.
02:06One minute I can be fine.
02:08And other days I just don't feel like doing anything.
02:11I'm tired, grumpy, lots of medical issues.
02:14Skin conditions, vitamin deficiencies, the brain fog.
02:19I've got to write things down a lot more now.
02:22We always used to go on a cruise once a year and go to Spain twice a year.
02:25But now I can't do anything like that because the trouble isn't so high.