'Grief, long Covid, PTSD - my life since lockdown'

Five years on from watching her mum die in the bed next to her after contracting Covid-19, Anabel Sharma has lost count of how many times she has been re-itted to hospital.

The 53-year-old is recovering from double pneumonia after spending most of January in hospital - the first of what she expects will be two or three visits to hospital this year.

That has been the case every year since 2020, when she spent three months in intensive care with the virus.

Today, only a foggy memory of that time remains for Mrs Sharma, who as well as being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is living with long Covid and the multitude of health problems that come with it.

She had to watch a live stream of her mum Maria Rico's funeral from the intensive care unit at the Leicester Royal Infirmary, after they were both itted on the same day in October 2020.

Mrs Sharma, from Whitwick in Leicestershire, previously told of her 76-year-old mum's decision to take off the mask keeping her alive, to share her last moments with her daughters.

"Grieving [my mum], it took a while," she said. "I think I did manage to grieve eventually. It took a couple of years."

But what has been more difficult, she said, was looking back at that time.

Her PTSD means there are gaps in Mrs Sharma's memory of her time in intensive care. And for now, she is apprehensive about trying to revisit it.

She said: "Because I'm still unwell, I don't want to be mentally struggling as well. Will I have a meltdown? Will I have a breakdown":[]}