LCK In The News

A teenager from Dorset has told the Covid-19 inquiry her ongoing symptoms often leave her feeling "left out".
The inquiry hopes to understand the ongoing impact of the pandemic and is expected to last four weeks.
Before being diagnosed, Molly said she used to be "really active and sporty".
"Now I live with on-going symptoms that stop me from doing the things that most teenagers can," she said.
Molly spent long periods in hospital and said she was forced to miss out on most of her secondary education.
"I often feel left out because my friends have moved on and I can't keep up."

Sammie McFarland, from Weymouth, said she was 'honoured' to contribute to a landmark international study which confirms the condition is debilitating, and the global response must be drastically scaled up.

The Delphi study, involving more than 150 experts across medicine, research, and patient advocacy, represents a first-of-its-kind consensus on the priorities, gaps, and urgent needs surrounding Long Covid.

Ms McFarland said the new study concluded that the impact of Covid-19 on children
'must be a research priority' from understanding the long-term health effects to supporting learning, development, and mental wellbeing.

Living with long Covid for four years has been "horrible", a teenager has said.
Molly, who lives in Weymouth, is now 16 and said she rarely goes out. When she does she needs the help of a wheelchair as she gets tired easily.
Without dedicated NHS support in Dorset, she is planning to travel to Liverpool to attend a private clinic.
In the absence of specialist support, Molly and her family have been doing what they can. A support dog called Woody now helps around the house. But in July, Molly will travel 300 miles (480km) to Liverpool to a private clinic, because the family cannot find help nearby.
Molly said she hoped a treatment for long Covid would be found but in the meantime she wanted "doctors and hospitals to be actually educated on it, and for us not to be judged".

Kaylee, 17, a once promising gymnast who hoped to represent her country, developed the virus on her 12th birthday and still experiences symptoms including dizziness and shortness of breath, causing her to miss school and give up on the sport she loves.
Kaylee has now not seen a specialist NHS doctor for two years. "I have tried to get in touch recently and didn't get a response," Sarah said. Sarah said she thought there should be a "thorough investigation" into the cause of long Covid, "instead of just treating the symptoms".
"There's a real lack of research into how it affects children in comparison to how it affects adults and there's real lack of support for children,"

Bethan, 20, from Pontardawe in Neath Port Talbot, was 17 and just beginning sixth-form when she caught Covid in 2021. She said she had all the "classic" symptoms of a heavy cold, but after two weeks did not recover. Bethan, who has asthma, described barely being able to lift her head from the pillow for days at a time, and said her sixth-form attendance suffered.
The charity Long Covid Kids has called on the Welsh government to ring fence money for specialist long Covid services. It said setting up a "surveillance scheme" could also help to accurately find out how many people are affected in Wales. A spokesperson said: "The services that the GPs are referring into are mainly paediatric, so there are no doctors who are familiar with long Covid, no doctors who are able to put the pieces of the jigsaw together."

New research has revealed alarming gaps in Long Covid care, with a Weymouth campaigner calling for clinic closures to 'stop immediately'. Sammie McFarland, who founded the Dorset-based charity Long Covid Kids (LCK), has reiterated her stance after the publication of a new report.

Despite NHS England confirming funding for Long Covid services through 2025/26, responses to FOI requests and direct communications with services suggests that a number of them are already closing or facing an uncertain future, the charity said.

It has already been confirmed that Dorset's own service will close on June 30 meaning anyone living with Long Covid in the county will no longer be able to get specialist care.

McFarland said: “Clinic closures must stop immediately, experienced staff must be retained, and closed clinics must reopen. Many people have endured devastating symptoms for over five years, while new cases continue to emerge".