A woman from Co Down spoke of her sudden deterioration after contracting Covid-19 and urged others to take care to protect themselves and their families.
Hart, 37, told me that she went from hiking to extreme exhaustion within days.
Four weeks ago, the businesswoman and artist noticed a strange taste in her mouth and went to get tested for Covid-19.
“I found out that I am positive and things have decreased from there,” she told the Palestinian News Agency.
“Within 48 hours, the symptoms shifted from a bad taste in my mouth to being in bed and being unable to get up.”
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Artist and businesswoman, Ali Hart, from Coltra near Hollywood (Niall Carson / Pennsylvania)
Palestinian Authority
Mrs. Hart visited A&E twice while sick after her symptoms had become severe.
She said, “I couldn’t have a conversation and my heart was so bad, so I went to Mater Hospital for the Covid Center, and they checked my stats.”
“Luckily it was nothing other than Covid and my heart was handling it well. My oxygen levels were good, I was very stressed, and energy depleted. I really couldn’t keep my head up.”
“It was like the flu ten times, and every day it changed, so it was a headache one day, and it was warming another day, this real heavyweight like someone was sitting on my chest. I felt unknown.
“Every day for seven days was brutal, but I felt very well taken care of between GP and A&E.”
Mrs. Hart described her inability to embrace her younger son as one of the most difficult parts of isolation.
She said, “We have three children, I have a job, and we had to adapt overnight.”
“I stayed in the front room and any time I entered the kitchen or brought food to me and left it at the door, we had to disinfect. I had one bathroom, and the rest of the family had another.”
“Our youngest is four years old, so the hug was the hardest thing.
“Sometimes in the middle of the night he wanted to come in and knock on the door, so that was another element of that kind of panic.
“But overall they all treated very well and fortunately they had no symptoms.”
Mrs. Hart runs online workshops that had to be put off for four weeks, including a children’s birthday party, which she said as a mom found her more annoying because of the children’s enthusiasm for her.
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Ali Hart talks about the impact of Covid-19 (Niall Carson / PA)
Palestinian Authority
They restarted their online workshops last weekend, but have taken precautions including getting plenty of rest beforehand.
Ms. Hart urged people to take care to protect themselves, and emphasized that although she had a mild heart condition, she was shocked to discover that she had the virus.
Four weeks later, she said she was still feeling short of breath.
She said: “There is still much unknown about the virus, but a full recovery may take six months, and due to my heart disease, I was referred to cardiology to check in case of any damage from Covid.”
“ I am 37 years old, I was wandering the day before and I was cycling the day before that on my own, strong and healthy and I fell.
The boys are at school but we have hand sanitizer everywhere, and the staff that works for me work from home.
“Yes, I have an underlying condition but my heart condition is mild so I would urge people to be diligent and really think about their family.
“For me the panic was that my mom is in our bubble and she is in great danger because she is older.
“When I was at A&E, I couldn’t even raise my head, and I thought this was real, this is very real.”
Palestinian Authority
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