Brighton student, 21, suffering with long Covid launches fundraiser

Emily Miller, who is a final year student from Brighton, contracted Covid-19 in last year and has been ill ever since.

She is now looking to raise money to help support her throughout her music business degree, as she struggles to afford medical and university expenses.

The 21-year-old experienced the first of her symptoms on October 13, her third week back at the British and Irish Modern Music (BIMMM) Institute in Brighton.

Emily Miller has been suffering from long Covid for over a year.

Emily says that she had been "incredibly" cautious and was therefore surprised that she contracted the virus.

She said: "I had a mild initial infection, this means I wasn’t hospitalised, and I thought I was getting better until November 4 when I was in A and E and I became so unwell they had concerns I may have been suffering a cardiac event."

After an ECG, X-Rays and blood tests, doctors found costochondritis and a drop in Emily's white blood cell count.

She has been on neuropathic pain medication since December last year and has had to increase the dosage several times since.

Some of the symptoms she has experienced in the past year are:

• extreme fatigue
• migraines and tinnitus
• severe muscle pain and spasms
• numbness
• struggling with clear thinking
• difficulty with concentration and word recall
• breathlessness
• dizziness
• nose bleeds
• increased vulnerability as her white blood cell (neutrophils) level fluctuates
• chest pain
• anxiety and depression
• severe glycaemic index issues, bleeding
• loss of appetite due to nausea

Emily said: "As you can imagine this has put an incredible amount of strain on myself and my family as I have been fighting through symptoms in order to complete my degree and continue chasing the career I have dreamed about for so long.

"I am only entitled to the minimal student maintenance loan which does not even cover my yearly rent. I am currently unable to get a job and am struggling to find anywhere I could work remotely that would take me on.

"With an increase in medical bills, travelling for appointments and treatments, therapy to help me cope, having to take more precautions and make accommodations for my illness, this has put me under a lot of financial strain.

"I am also unable to obtain support from the disabled students allowance (DSA) as they do not recognise long Covid as a long term illness due to it being such a new condition with little long term medical knowledge.

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"In addition to this, unfortunately my laptop irreparably broke three weeks into the academic year and I have had to spend almost all of my remaining savings to replace it as is it currently my university, work, social interaction, entertainment and a means to accessing medical appointments."

Emily says she has struggled to receive much medical attention this year due to pressure on the NHS and a lack of information on the illness, she was only able to have one in person GP appointment and was seen once by a neurology nurse.

Beyond blood tests, Emily said she has had very little medical inspection or treatment, she feels that now is the time to be looking into alternative methods of treatment and private practices.

"I have reached a point of desperation and have seen treatments and suggestions in long Covid patient groups that many have attributed to helping them recover and I would like to have the opportunity to try these as well as receiving support for my current financial struggles," she said.

Some of these treatments include alternative treatments such as acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen therapy as well as investigative procedures that have been able to identify physical issues and work more efficiently and effectively to cure them.

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Emily said on the fundraising page: "Anyone who knows me will be aware that I normally feel uncomfortable taking money and support from anyone and wouldn’t be posting this unless I felt I had run out of options and sadly I do.

"To anyone who can afford to spare a little bit of money, no matter how big or small, to help me recover and get back to the person I once was, I will be eternally grateful."

To donate to Emily's fundraiser please visit https://gofund.me/1754d677.

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