John
John is retired. He lives with his partner, who also cares for him. He describes his ethnicity as white.
Before John became ill, he used to walk in the local park every day. He was found to have Covid when he went to hospital after having a stroke in 2021. Life for John and his wife has really changed over the last few months. John was interviewed in May 2022.
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When John had a stroke in October 2021, he was tested for Covid in hospital and found that he was positive. John was told that ‘sticky blood’ caused by Covid may have been the cause of his stroke. John was unconscious for 6 days and spent 15 weeks as a hospital inpatient in two hospitals, spending some of the time in isolation because he had Covid. He did some light physiotherapy whilst in hospital and sees a physiotherapist once a week now he is back at home. He lost a lot of weight whilst in hospital.
John still experiences extreme tiredness, dizziness, and incontinence, and his wife says that his attention span is very short. This hugely affects quality of life, both for him and his wife. He has also experienced some falls at home due to the dizziness and his wife worries about leaving him alone. Before his stroke and catching Covid, John was an active man for his age. He walked daily in the local park and spent time feeding the squirrels. Now he finds even walking the short distance to the bathroom a challenge, although he can wash and dress himself with the help of some bathroom aids. His biggest concern now is his lack of balance. He finds it 'nerve-wracking' that his balance is getting worse.
He is waiting for more investigations for his incontinence. His doctors told John’s wife that they think he has Long Covid but he hasn’t had any specific support for Long Covid. He doesn’t feel that the doctors ‘are rushing round looking for answers.’ John and his wife are visited by people from a local charity who stay with John when his wife needs to be away from the house.
John and his wife have concerns about their finances, with increasing fuel bills and other costs. They have found navigating the benefits system difficult. John would like clear guidance from someone about who to speak to access financial support. John appreciates the fantastic care that he has from his wife, but he says that Long Covid has changed both of their lives for the worse. John’s wife also thinks there should be more support for carers, especially in situations like theirs, where John’s constant tiredness means that he is able to do so little.
John was extremely reliant on his wife to take care of him. He said, “I can’t imagine having a carer who’s better than her.”
John was extremely reliant on his wife to take care of him. He said, “I can’t imagine having a carer who’s better than her.”
John: But other than that, I can’t complain because for…if ever she wanted a reference to become somebody else’s carer I’d be happy to give her one. Coupled with that, I mean [wife] is, you know, she’s my wife. We’ve been together for, how long, thirty…?
Wife: Thirty-four years.
John: Thirty-four years. There is nothing she doesn’t know about me. And so, in terms of, I can’t imagine having a carer who’s better than her. In terms of what she does for me. It just couldn’t exist.
John wanted someone to tell him what benefits he might be able to claim and how he should do this.
John wanted someone to tell him what benefits he might be able to claim and how he should do this.
I really it would be nice to…in fact the guy who’s coming on Wednesday, my physio guy, he’s supposed, he said the last time we physically spoke to each face-to-face, he said he would let me have a list of all the government departments that he felt we should be in a position to apply to. But he hasn’t sent that yet. But that would be very helpful if somebody could actually just…you need to be able…you can contact these people, blah, blah, blah, blah, telephone number, email and so on. But nobody does. So, it’s very difficult to know who you can apply to. I mean, the one thing you asked, this PIP thing, not heard of it. Well, I had heard of it but nobody’s mentioned it lately. I didn’t know that we could apply for it.