An Edinburgh NHS worker has described what it's really like to contract coronavirus after she was left in intensive care with "excruciating" symptoms.
According to experts, COVID-19 symptoms vary from patient to patient, while some people may not even know they have the deadly virus.
But Karen McCabe, who suffers from type one diabetes, says she was left fighting for breath after she contracted coronavirus and is urging people not to flout lockdown rules.
The 44-year-old NHS worker, from Edinburgh, developed symptoms while self-isolating with her children.
What started with a cough and soaring temperature quickly turned life-threatening, as she was left feeling as though someone was "sitting on her chest".
After being admitted to the Western General following bouts of vomiting, Karen was transferred to the intensive care unit where she was placed on a non-invasive ventilator as her "body couldn't cope".
Speaking to the Daily Record, Karen said: "I couldn't breathe, and I really mean that.
"It was like someone was sitting down hard on my chest every time I tried to inhale or exhale, which was excruciatingly painful. It was so bad I couldn't speak.
"At one point a consultant came to see me and I nearly fell off the chair trying to breath and kept trying to say 'please help me, please help me'.
“I honestly thought I was going to die.
“One minute I was burning hot, the next shivering uncontrollably.”
“I had severe body aches in all the areas working hard - my neck, shoulder blades and chest - not to mention an agonising headache.
"On top of that I completely lost my sense of taste and smell."
Now off of the ventilator and back on the COVID ward, the brave mum is warning "smug" people not to break lockdown rules by gathering in public areas after seeing pictures of roads near Silverknowes Beach rammed with cars.
Posting on Facebook, she said: "What do people not understand, or is it just sheer arrogance and defiance?!
"Whilst you may be smugly thinking it won’t happen to me - and you may be right - you could be asymptomatic and pass it in to someone like me, cancer patients or elderly people with underlying health conditions.
"You could kill them.
"Come on folks let’s get a grip! We’re still at the low end of the trajectory, over the next few weeks the numbers are anticipated to ramp up.
"Will people catch it again? Maybe? Will these same people survive next time? Maybe....
"Let’s kick this horrific virus into touch, let our clever researchers develop a vaccine.
"Our NHS, many of them my colleagues, are on their knees. Many of them have caught it helping people like me despite religiously wearing PPE and hand washing until their skin cracks.
"And let's not forget all of the other essential workers having to put themselves at further risk to serve you before going home to their families possibly now having Covid-19.
"Soon, more of them will go off, so in the event that you do contract it, who’s going to help you get better and home to your family?"
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For the latest guidance on coronavirus from Health Protection Scotland, click here.
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