Roscommon forward Joanne Cregg has opened up about her ‘dreadful’ experience of Covid-19.
The 27-year-old doctor tested positive for the deadly virus just before Christmas – weeks after starting and scoring in November’s All-Ireland intermediate semi-final against Westmeath.
Cregg said she was in perfect health after the Championship and had no underlying medical issues but was still left floored.
She told Midwest Radio: “It was dreadful.
“I was so surprised at how sick I actually got, just because every day I was getting new symptoms and I would have a day of getting better, then I would have a shortness of breath and a cough.
“I’m lucky that I was able to bring home a monitor from the hospital so I was able to keep an eye on my (oxygen) saturation levels and knew what level it would have to be at before I would be hospitalised.”
Cregg avoided being hospitalised but had to be cared for in her apartment by a housemate.
She revealed: “I’m almost four weeks on now and I still have a cough, I’m still very fatigued and I’m still just not myself. I find myself getting into coughing fits where it would just take my breath away and I wouldn’t be able to catch my breath.
“People have this preconceived idea that there are two levels; those that are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and lose their smell and taste, and those that have the dreadful experience of being hospitalised and needing ICU care.
“But there’s a lot of middle ground, moderate level of Covid and I think people sometimes pass over that. It can be very, very tough.”
Asked what the current picture is like at work in the University Hospital Galway, she described it as ‘pretty scary at the moment’.
As for her current condition, Cregg revealed she still hasn’t got her sense of taste and smell back after initially losing them on Christmas Day.
She added: “That doesn’t bother me. I would be more concerned that I’m still fatigued and I have this cough.
“I would worry that if I tried to go for a sprint on a pitch I just wouldn’t be able to.”
