Healthy student-athlete, 24, reveals how ‘mild’ case of Covid-19 left him unable to walk

A fit and healthy athlete revealed how a ‘mild’ case of coronavirus left him struggling to walk and shared the painful symptoms he still struggles to this day.

Will Smith, 24, contracted the virus in March of last year upon returning to Victoria after graduating from college in Boston.

The talented athlete revealed he continues to struggle with symptoms of the long Covid almost 19 months after recovering from a “mild” case of the virus.

“The initial illness was incredibly frightening,” Mr Smith told reporters at Victoria’s daily press conference on Covid on Tuesday.

“The feeling of forcing against your own body, of trying to expand your lungs against that invisible force, of struggling to breathe.”

The student athlete said he had never been hospitalized or admitted to an intensive care unit and was officially cleared of the virus after a few weeks.

However, the 24-year-old said a relapse of intense “symptom flare-ups” could be caused by simply walking his dog or kicking soccer with friends.

Despite having completed four years of high-intensity athletics where Mr. Smith trained six days a week, he may feel dizzy after circling the block.

“I had such debilitating fatigue that sometimes I couldn’t even get out of bed,” the athlete said, adding that the mental impacts of a long Covid had taken its toll.

“The shame of constantly having to tell people that you are not even better. The frustration you feel with your own body that you just can’t seem to get over this post-viral syndrome, ”he said.

The Melbourne man urged residents to get vaccinated to protect themselves and loved ones from the deadly virus he has continued to fight.

Mr Smith explained that there was no vaccine when he contracted Covid-19 last year and said he had felt helpless for a long time.

“You don’t have to be on a ventilator for your life to be turned upside down for months or even years,” he said.

“We are no longer helpless. We can fight back. And now we can protect ourselves and those we love. We can get vaccinated.

Her feelings came as Victoria recorded by far the highest number of new Covid cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic.

Delta’s outbreak increased by 1,763 infections on Tuesday – 164 more than the worst day of New South Wales’ lockdown on September 10.

Melbourne has been locked up longer than any city on Earth during the entire pandemic and won’t taste freedom until October 26.

Tuesday’s infection tally shattered the previous state record of 1,476 on Friday and was almost double the worst day of its deadly second wave last year.

However, today is unlikely to be the worst day of the pandemic for Australia as a whole, as New South Wales is only expected to have cases in the 600s, as it did on Monday.

Some expert predictions see Covid cases hit 3,000 a day before the curve finally turns down. Tuesday is the sixth consecutive day of four-digit infections.

Victoria has 14,368 active cases, the highest number on record.

Prime Minister Dan Andrews said 517 people are currently hospitalized with Covid-19, of whom 101 are in intensive care and 66 on ventilators.

Andrews said 66% of Victorians in hospitals are not vaccinated, while 8% have received a dose. Only six percent are fully immunized.

“There are very few very sick people in the hospital who have been vaccinated with a double dose, and that is the whole reason you have to go and play your part,” he said.

The state has recorded four Covid-related deaths in the past 24 hours, a man in his 60s from Whittlesea, a woman in her 60s from Hume, a man in her 60s from Whitehorse and a woman in her 60s from Banyule.

Statewide, 83.2% of people over 16 have received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, while 53% have now received a second dose.

More than 62,189 Victorians were tested for the virus in the 24 hours leading up to Tuesday morning, while 35,253 vaccinations were given at state-run sites.

The weeklong lockdown at LaTrobe City is expected to be lifted from midnight Tuesday, despite the detection of nine new cases, bringing the total to 67.

Andrews said high vaccination rates would bring the state to the 70% double-dose rate and urged residents to make an appointment.

“We know it will be a difficult time for our health workers and our health system, but there is no alternative,” he said of the reopening.

“It will be easier, it will be less traumatic in our health system, more and more people will be vaccinated.”

The statewide lockdown is due to end on October 26 when 70% of Victoria will be vaccinated, but there are fears the outbreak may not have reached its peak by then.

Mr Andrews said on Tuesday he believed the state was on track to reopen on schedule despite the worrying increase in new cases.

“We are not chasing zero. It is really clear. We have more cases than we would like. But without lockdown right now, then we would have lots and lots more cases and lots more people in the hospital, ”he said.

As of 8 p.m. Sunday, the Melburnians will have spent 245 cumulative days in lockdown, the maximum of any city in the world.

The beats the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires which spent 234 days in lockdown in 2020 plus a 10-day breaker blockage in May of this year.

Melbourne will end up far surpassing this record with the current roadmap indicating that the blockages will not be lifted before the 70% vaccination around October 26.