Claire Byrne has opened up about her experience with coronavirus, admitting that she was terrified she would pass the virus on to her elderly parents.
Now recovered, Claire said that at the time of her diagnosis her thoughts were with keeping her parents safe more than nursing herself back to health. Speaking candidly on the Human Nature podcast with Rodney Edwards, Claire spoke openly about that time for her:
“I was terrified, absolutely terrified. I thought I had killed both my parents in truth because they’re no longer young,”
“Particularly my dad would be considered to be in the vulnerable category, and that was my big concern,” she continued.
Although unwell, the mother of two still continued to work from home, hosting her RTÉ show, Claire Byrne Live from her shed, but she admits that she willed herself to get better as quickly as possible so she could return to work as normal.
“All I wanted for somebody to tell me I did not have COVID-19 so I could get back into work but then I get the call to say, ‘Oh your test was positive.’
“I was in complete shock but actually, in retrospect, I was quite sick,” she added.
Although well again now, Claire does admit that it seems some of her symptoms have lingered since recovering.
Explaining on her show recently, the 44-year-old said:
“What I have been learning through my own experience is that the symptoms of it are extending long far beyond the two week period that we were told it would take to recover.”
“There are residual things for me its congestion and excessive sneezing that I would never have had before and the fatigue as well and you just wonder where is that coming from or will it just disappear or will we have to live with that now?
