The wife of a man suffering from long-lasting effects of Covid-19 has said she thinks his "life won't ever be normal again".
35-year-old Darren O’Connor became infected with Covid-19 in October 2021.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Prime Time, his wife Samantha said after initially recovering from the virus, he returned to work but became unwell again three weeks later. She said he had a "very high temperature" and couldn’t eat food.
Darren was brought to A&E and the next day was admitted to ICU and has been in hospital ever since.
"I don't think it's ever going to be normal again."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) December 20, 2022
After recovering from Covid-19 in 2021, Darren O Connor became severely ill shortly afterwards. His wife, Samantha spoke to @MiriamOCal about how their lives have been changed forever. #rtept pic.twitter.com/e06QKua2JK
When he was brought to hospital, he had "very profound heart failure," says Dr James O’Rourke who is the Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine at Beaumont Hospital.
Speaking to the same programme, Dr O’Rourke says Darren was "unique" as unlike some other Covid-19 patients, Darren did not "present with Covid meningitis (swelling of the lungs)" but with heart failure.
Darren fell into a coma and was put on a ventilator.
Dr O’Rourke said Darren had a temperature of 42.5C which is something he had not seen in his 27 years of practice.
He said Darren was put on a dialysis machine not because his kidneys had failed but to try to bring his temperature down which is an "aggressive form of therapy" for someone with a high temperature.
Doctors at Beaumont say they arrived at a diagnosis of "multisystem inflammatory disease" caused as a result of being infected by Covid-19.
Samantha says seeing her husband in a coma and on a ventilator was the "scariest thing" she had ever seen.
Samantha and other members of Darren’s family were called to a meeting and told the part of his brain that controls breathing was damaged and he would probably never breathe again unassisted.
She praised the medical staff in Beaumont and said they have been "fantastic" in their care of Darren.
Since waking up from the coma, Darren is still in recovery and is visited by staff from the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH).
He is currently on a waiting list with the NRH.
Darren has also been accepted to get a moulded chair from the Central Remedial Clinic (CRC).
A ventilator will be put onto the back of the chair which Samathna says will allow him to be brought outside.
Samantha says the chair will make it more comfortable for him.
The CRC will also be providing Darren with an Eye Gaze-assistive technology machine which he can use to text, email and communicate with his friends and family.
Samantha says the doctors say "he won’t ever get off his ventilator" but she would like to think one day he could and is very hopeful he will make a full recovery.
