TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains information about suicide, which may be triggering to some.
Five years after the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic began, we are still dealing with the effects. While research is always being done to study how the virus affects people, there’s always more to learn. Long COVID is something that is still a bit of a mystery to doctors, but they’ve made strides.
But people are still living with the affects of long COVID, which can be devastating for them. Many of the symptoms don’t have a cure. As a result of her illness, a mom in the UK, has made the difficult decision to end her life.
“This is a living death sentence. I have had no improvements for over three years. Life is for living not to be trapped in a bed suffering from over 50 symptoms. It is horrific,” mom of four Kelly Smith-May, told the MailOnline.
Smith-May has been living with the affects of long COVID since catching the virus in 2021. A former care worker, she is now unable to sit, stand, walk, talk for long periods of time, or even eat. Living with these symptoms doesn’t allow her to care for her children, the youngest of whom is 7 years old.
“I get exhausted, even just trying to read to the kids takes it out of me,” she adds. “It takes my mental energy and then I end up getting so upset. I am in pain 24/7,” she said. “You can’t live like this and I wasn’t born to just lay in bed, rotting away at 41-years-old.”
Smith-May told the outlet that she felt “let down” by the country’s National Health Service after developing severe myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. Now, she claims she has “no choice” but to travel to Switzerland to end her life at an assisted dying organization.
“I would never want to do it if I had a choice but I have been left without a choice,” she explained. “All I do is suffer, suffer, suffer. I just want to once and for all be out of it.”
Currently, Smith-May’s husband and grandmother care for her. “I will support if that is what she needs because I keep thinking what life has she got? It’s the same each day and it’s really upsetting to see and makes me ill as well,” her grandmother told the outlet.
Smith-May and her family set up a GoFundMe to raise the $15,500 the trip requires. Because she can’t sit up, her family will transport her via a camper van. According to the fundraiser, they will travel with the camper via train from the UK to France, and then on to Switzerland. They also explain that the fees for the assisted dying facility are the equivalent of around $13,000.
“She has tried to hold on, but 22 months of daily suffering is enough. Kelly is physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually drained and deteriorating everyday, usually needing help to even be able to roll over in the bed,” the fundraiser reads.
In a note to donors, Smith-May wrote, “I honestly don’t know what to do with myself, I don’t know how to get through the next few hours, let alone weeks/months.”
Note: If you or any of your loved ones are struggling with suicidal thoughts, you can always reach out to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling 988. They are available 24/7 by phone or online chat.
