Young biker issues Covid warning from Plymouth hospital bed
A young and fit mountain biker has shared a warning from his hospital bed for those who do not take contracting Covid-19 seriously.
Jonathon, who has recently left Derriford Hospital, said he didn't take the virus that seriously at all before he tested positive and ended up needing urgent hospital treatment to help him breathe properly.
The 27-year-old, who is a keen runner and mountain biker, needed treatment with oxygen and was left gasping for water despite pumping himself with fluids.
He is now urging those who don't recognise the severity of the virus to get a "reality check".
He said: "It started off with a headache and then a couple of days it just started off like, started to progress into like a whole body feeling of aching pains, coughing, lots of mucus.
"My personal opinion, I think people who say Covid isn't real need a reality check.
"I'm guilty of that myself when it first started off, which is the only reason why I'm saying that. But as I've experienced, and I've seen people around myself coming down with it - throw that theory out of the window really."
After a few days, Jonathon was not eating, was bedridden and had temperatures up to 39.6C, causing him to excessively sweat.
"Imagine having a thirst that you can't sate with how much water you can drink," he said.
"I was going through like four or five litres of water a day and I was still thirsty. My mouth was like dry and sticky but it was also like the not knowing, like, what was going to happen next."
Jonathon, who lives in Plymouth, said he doesn't believe he would have got better as quickly as he did without professional medical attention.
He said: "Unlike any other virus that is probably out there and what I've had, usually I can wipe them off like naturally, without having any sort of medical intervention or treatment.
"Whereas this is like I've needed help on it because there was no way I could have got well as quickly as I have without, like, professional help."
Jonathon was also unable to walk when he was admitted to hospital.
"I had to walk with a paramedic," he said.
"[He] was a real sound guy, real helpful, carrying an oxygen tank with like the oxygen tubes into the nostrils.
"Yeah it was, you know, if it wasn't for that then you know things probably would have been a lot worse."
He is now urging people, no matter their age, to think about how their actions can affect someone else further down the chain.
"I'd also like to strongly encourage people, no matter how young you are, to just respect people's need for social distance," he said.
"It's just not worth the risk. It really isn't.
"It's you know, for yourselves, for your people because you don't know who they're going to meet.
"They could be meeting people who are like 50, 60, 70, 80 odd and it could potentially cause them a lot more, like, damage than what you know."
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