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National
Hannah Graham

Berwick girl hospitalised for six months after catching Covid is still suffering nearly two years on

It's now almost two years since this Berwick teenager contracted Covid-19.

But she still lives with the devastating impact of the virus which left her hospitalised for six months.

Alyssa Mulvey has had health problems since birth, and at the age of 10 was diagnosed with a rare auto-immune condition, A20 haploinsufficiency.

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When she was 13, she underwent a stem cell transplant, using cells donated by dad Shane, which should have resolved her health issues. But Alyssa and her family couldn't have known that the coronavirus pandemic was about to hit - and cause a huge setback in her recovery.

While recovering from the transplant, the now-15-year-old caught the virus, initially spending a week in hospital.

She was discharged on April 16, 2020, appearing to have recovered. But weeks later, medics discovered she was suffering from a serious kidney condition called thrombotic microangiopathy, which they now believe was a result of her contracting the virus.

It led to life-threatening complications, with doctors even warning that Alyssa might not survive.

Mum Kirstie Mulvey took her daughter to Newcastle's RVI at the end of April, 2020 - and the pair didn't come home until October.

There were moments of light - particularly when Alyssa's beloved dog Daisy was allowed to visit her for the first time in hospital - but overall, it was an enormously difficult six months for the family.

Although the teenager is now home, the condition is still having a huge impact on her life, as she has to undergo dialysis at home as well as regular checkups in hospital.

Kirstie, 42, said: "She should have been back to being a healthy, normal teenager now after her transplant, which was 100% successful, she's got a healthy immune system now so it should all be back to normal. But she isn't, and that's because of Covid.

Alyssa was reunited with her beloved dog Daisy after months in hospital (Kirstie Mulvey)

"She's still in kidney failure now and she's on dialysis at home. We don't think she's going to need a kidney transplant and hopefully she will be able to come off dialysis at some point, but things are still uncertain."

Brave Alyssa is still coping brilliantly with all her treatment, and her mum says she couldn't be prouder of how she's faced up to the adversity of the past two years.

"She's unbelievable, I say to her all the time that I'm so proud of her - she always says 'you won't get rid of me that easily," Kirstie said.

Alyssa and her mum say her story highlights how serious Covid can be, even for younger people, and emphasises the need to keep taking it seriously.

And although they're now trying to move on with their lives, they've been thinking about those impossible six months over recent weeks after the revelation that on March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among the Downing Street staff who attended a 'bring your own booze' bash in the garden of Number 10 - despite the strict lockdown rules in force at the time.

Alyssa is now recovering, and hopes to be able to come off dialysis without needing a kidney transplant (Kirstie Mulvey)

That same month, Alyssa was fighting for her life, while she and Kirstie were left desperately missing Shane and other loved ones.

Kirstie said. "Her dad would come down at the weekend but when Shane came in I had to be off the ward, so I would go down, say hello, he would go up and spend a few hours with Alyssa and then I'd have to get back to the ward when he left, so my husband and I didn't get to spend any time together. This went on until August.

"Alyssa and I always make the best of a bad situation, but it was a tough time. And there was Boris and everybody having a right good party - I just think it's not fair. It's terrible that people could be so ill and they were doing that."

Alyssa said she shares her mum's anger, accusing the Prime Minister of failing to take the virus that has caused her so much pain seriously.

She said: "I can't remember an awful lot because I was on a lot of medication but I know that I didn't know what was going to happen to me. It was not nice.

"Because Boris Johnson was in hospital with Covid as well I would kind of expect him to have realised what it does to people, but instead he was partying. It's just horrible."

And the teenager added her voice to calls for the PM to resign over the scandal.

"He's just an embarrassment, he should 100% go," she added.

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