A 22-year-old marketing student has lost all her hair after spending five days in a coma and 12 days in intensive care with coronavirus.
Ffion Barnett found out she had Covid-19 just two days after her 22nd birthday and began struggling to breathe just a week later.
She was brought to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant where she became so unwell she had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat and sleep.
Ms Barnett admitted thinking she would be fine without the vaccine because she was young and had no health conditions.
‘Obviously I was wrong,’ she said. ‘I now want to raise awareness of the importance of the vaccine and how Covid isn’t just dangerous for the elderly; it can affect anyone.’
Ms Barnett, from Tonypandy, Rhondda, said she first suspected she had coronavirus when she lost her sense of taste.
Ffion Barnett (pictured before, left, and in hospital, right) found out she had Covid-19 just two days after her 22nd birthday and began struggling to breathe just a week later
She was brought to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital (pictured) in Llantrisant where she became so unwell she had to relearn how to walk, talk, eat and sleep
‘I felt a bit rough before that, but I wasn’t displaying any of the telltale symptoms,’ she said, ‘But when I realised I couldn’t taste that’s when things got real.’
The day after her 22nd birthday, Ms Barnett went for a PCR test which came back as positive 24 hours later.
‘I wasn’t particularly worried at the time. I was just too focused on being in isolation and getting better,’ she added.
After seven days of illness Ms Barnett’s breathing became increasingly laboured and she was admitted to the Royal Glamorgan Hospital on August 12, 2021.
She added: ‘I spoke to my mother who works at the hospital as a bank nurse. She knew that my breathing was very heavy and told me to go straight to hospital.
‘My partner wheeled me into the hospital and I was taken straight into a room by resus. They did all my observations and stats and put me straight on oxygen.
‘I then remember being taken to ward three where I spent the night. I had a funny turn there where I couldn’t get up or walk. I was then admitted to ICU on Friday, August 13 – what a great day to be admitted.’
Ms Barnett said she was given ‘every machine going’ to try and improve her oxygen levels, but they didn’t work. Eventually she turned a corner after a 12-day spell in intensive care and was put back on ward three
Soon after leaving hospital Ms Barnett noticed her hair was falling out. ‘I had really long, thick hair. I didn’t start losing it until I came out of hospital,’ she said. ‘It was hard at first but it got to the point where I woke up one morning and decide to shave it off. I took it in my stride really’
Ms Barnett was then put in an induced coma because doctors worried her high heart rate could result in cardiac arrest. She also battled Covid-induced pneumonia.
The cafe worker said the medication she was given when doctors tried to bring her round from her coma caused her to hallucinate.
‘They tried getting me out of the coma after two or three days, but as I was so agitated they put me back under. I didn’t know what was reality and what wasn’t,’ she said.
‘It must have been terrifying for my family, but in truth I was in no state to be frightened as I was so out of it.’
Ms Barnett said she was given ‘every machine going’ to try and improve her oxygen levels, but they didn’t work. Eventually she turned a corner after a 12-day spell in intensive care and was put back on ward three.
‘Staff in the hospital were amazing. They literally do not stop. I don’t know when they take breaks,’ she added. ‘In ICU, even though I was out of it, there was always someone at my side.’
Ms Barnett spent two weeks and five days at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital. Towards the end of her stay she had to learn how to talk, walk and eat properly again.
‘When I did manage to talk it just wasn’t my voice. Then when I got home I needed looking after. I needed help bathing, people had to make my food for me,’ she added.
Soon after leaving hospital Ms Barnett noticed her hair was falling out.
‘I had really long, thick hair. I didn’t start losing it until I came out of hospital,’ she said. ‘It was hard at first but it got to the point where I woke up one morning and decide to shave it off. I took it in my stride really.’
Ms Barnett, who now has her Covid vaccinations, said she has almost fully recovered from Covid-19 but remains lethargic all the time.
Source: dailymail
