SALT LAKE CITY — Tuesday marks the five year anniversary of the World Health Organization officially declaring COVID-19 a pandemic. Although the pandemic is officially over, some are still struggling with its effects, the so-called “Long COVID.”
Hannah Fitzgerald is one of them. She was on an LDS church mission when she first became ill, but that was just the beginning of what turned into a multi-year battle with COVID that didn’t end until last year when she received treatment at a brain clinic in Florida.
“I definitely gave up hope," said Fitzgerald. "I was told eventually you’re probably going to die because I was not breathing very well.“
During her mission in Castle Rock, Colorado, Fitzgerald started feeling ill, and when the symptoms persisted, she went to small, rural hospital. A short time later, a doctor in a full hazmat suit greeted her with the news, “I’m so sorry, but you tested positive for COVID," Fitzgerald recalled, "and I was like, what’s COVID?”
She quickly learned it was no laughing matter.
“It was after that week, that initial week, that symptoms really started developing rapidly where I was sick," she shared. "That’s when the breathing trouble started coming.”
After isolating for weeks in her bedroom, the symptoms persisted before Hannah eventually returned to Utah and began a series of medical treatments over the next months and then years… none of which seemed to help.
“They were pretty baffled what to do with me because I was a college athlete with no previous conditions or anything," she said.
It was physically and mentally draining for Fitzgerald, who withdrew from school and abandoned her goal of becoming a nurse. Then, at possibly her lowest point, she learned about the AVIV clinic in Florida and met Dr. Mohammed Elamir,
“She said what most long COVID patients say: I just want my life back!” explained Elamir.
AVIV is an advanced brain research clinic where Elamir learned Hannah‘s series of concussions likely made her more susceptible to Long COVID. So they began new treatments, including extensive use of a hyperbaric chamber, which helped Hannah recover.
Elamir hopes the treatment can help others dealing with Long COVID.
“Today we know a lot more about the virus, a lot more about how it infiltrates the brain and the body and why long COVID happens, but more importantly how we can help it,” the doctor said.
After years of disappointment, Hannah says she now has a new lease on life.
“My story is a cautionary tale, just how serious it can get and how much your life can change from contracting an illness,” she said.
Hannah is now back in school at BYU studying to be a nurse and hopes her story will motivate others out there dealing with Long COVID not to give up.
