Long Covid: 'I couldn't give what I wanted to my job'

A pastor has described how the debilitating effects of long Covid forced him to retire.

Martin Knight from Derby worked at the Haven Christian Centre and was admitted to hospital with coronavirus in 2020.

Blood clots on his lungs, possibly linked to his illness, put him intensive care, and he decided to retire early in October 2021.

He said he was left with unpredictable fatigue and "couldn't give what I wanted" to the job.

Long Covid is the term used to describe persistent, often debilitating, symptoms experienced after initial recovery.

Mr Knight, 65, who had worked at the centre since 2015, contracted the disease in the early stages of the pandemic.

He said: "It was in April 2020 and I think one night [hospital staff] were really worried about me.

"They would have sent me up to ICT but there were no beds left".

After seeming to recover he went back to his church but said he struggled with continuing symptoms.

"It was mainly the fatigue.

"I felt I couldn't give what I wanted to my job and felt the church would have been better off with someone with more energy to help it out of lockdown.

"There was also dizziness and problems with concentration.

"I was in meetings and I couldn't follow the agenda. Fortunately, the other people in the church were very patient; they had to put up with quite a bit."

He said long Covid continued to affect him in a number of ways.

While he is able to be active on some days, Mr Knight said that on others he "struggles to get out of bed".

He said he has also recently been turned down for travel insurance, due to the blood clots.

He added that doctors were unable to give him any guarantees about long term recovery.

"They are as in the dark as the rest of us," he said.

Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].