"It wiped me off my feet. Totally." Susan Searson is lying in her bed in Ward 3A at Cork University Hospital. 3A is a Covid-19 ward and Susan is reflecting on her covid experience.
She has a lot of reflecting to do. Susan lives with her four children, Dylan (19), Jodieleigh (18), Humphrey (8) and six-year old Mark, at Fernanes, outside Cork city.
They had been sticking strictly to Covid-19 restrictions, because Susan is asthmatic. However, Susan began to feel unwell in the opening days of the New Year.
On 10 January, a Sunday, Susan developed severe chest pains, she was coughing and she couldn't breathe properly. She rang her GP who called an ambulance and she was brought to Cork University Hospital.