I THOUGHT I WAS DYING

MARCH 2020: VERTIGO

I fell ill before the first lockdown, suffering the cold-like symptoms of a sore throat and runny nose. I didn’t have a cough or high temperature – the COVID symptoms we’d been warned about – so I carried on going into the school where I work as a lunchtime supervisor. A couple of days later, my chest felt very tight and my ribs hurt. But, after a few more days, my symptoms eased and I didn’t think any more of it.

I was never tested for COVID, but at that point testing wasn’t as accessible.

Three days after lockdown was announced, I suffered a bout of vertigo. I’d