Beat 102 103 has created a special two-part documentary on Long Covid featuring presenter Michelle Heffernan.
On 2 January 2021, Michelle was diagnosed with Covid-19 and like many others, she believed it would be over within a few weeks; instead, she endured months of debilitating fatigue.
In response to the ignorance and unfamiliarity with this condition, Michelle and Beat now present “It’s Not a Cold-It’s Long Covid” examining Long Covid, its effects, and the distressingly poor response patients have endured.
“I had a tough time recovering,” says Michelle, “but that is nothing compared with the stories I have heard, the lives I have seen obliterated.
People are bed-ridden; people have lost jobs, friends, or relationships. There are approximately 2,000 people in a Long Covid Ireland Facebook group and most of them are reporting that that that’ve been ignored, dismissed or gaslit.
I want to raise awareness on this issue and ask what we can all do, to lessen the number of usually healthy people from becoming disabled and disenfranchised due to Long Covid.”
Speaking ahead of the broadcast CEO of Beat 102 103 Gabrielle Cummins says: “Long Covid is new to all of us; it’s affecting our audience to varying degrees so we want to try our best to provide information that could help our listeners to better deal with this new type of illness.
“As a market leading station, it’s important that we raise awareness around how debilitating Long Covid can be but we also want to highlight solutions that will help people come out the other side of this horrible sickness & feel more positive about their future.
“As we’ve seen previously with Michelle’s other documentaries produced for Beat, she delves deep into the heart of the issue and shows great empathy with her subject matter so I’ve no doubt this latest series from her, will be as engaging as all the others have been, for Beat’s audience.”
“It’s Not a Cold-It’s Long Covid” Part 1 & Part 2 will air on May 16th and May 23rd respectively on Beat from 10am. It will be available for playback thereafter on soundcloud.com/beat102103
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This story first appeared on Radio Today