Eleanor is a single mother of 2 teenagers. After spending time out of clinical medicine, pursuing her interests in teaching and medical journalism, she returned to her hospital role as a Consultant in Sexual Health Medicine at the height of the second wave of the COVID pandemic, in February 2021. Almost exactly a year later, in February 2022, she caught COVID-19 and sadly developed long COVID, which left her unable to function for several months. She had such severe fatigue and lack of energy that she has not been able to work since February 2022. Her symptoms are gradually improving with medication and oxygen therapy, but she is still dependent on a mobility scooter to leave the house, and will need an electric wheelchair when she eventually returns to work.

She was just on the cusp of returning to work on a slow phased return, when in June this year she was admitted to hospital in Herefordshire with cholecystitis. She was in hospital for 2 weeks and had several scans and a procedure, and she is still struggling with the aftermath of that admission, in terms of increased fatigue and ongoing pain. She is now waiting to have her gall bladder removed and is hoping to be able to start her phased return to work once she has recovered from the operation.

Eleanor's illnesses have had a huge impact on her family. She has gone from being a park running, cooking from scratch, hands on mum - to being almost sofa bound, relying on her teenage children to pick up the housework and survive on ready meals. Both of her children have recently been diagnosed with ASD and find any change in routine very difficult to cope with, so being away from their mum while she was in hospital for so long was a real struggle for them.

Her sick pay ran out in January this year, and since then she has been claiming Universal Credit and has been lucky enough to have some support from a medical charity. Her finances are still very tight, and the money she is receiving just about covers her mortgage and household expenses.

She has been approved for a grant to buy an electric wheelchair through the government’s Access to Work scheme, but they will only cover part of the cost. She will need the wheelchair for her return to work, but does not have the capital available to pay her contribution. This is why I am crowdfunding to help her get back on her feet - she is in desperate need of £1826.28 to pay for her portion of the wheelchair. She could also do with some more support around the home – for cleaning and help with meal prep, especially when she goes back to work and will be using all of her limited energy at work.

Please consider supporting this family in need. Any donation, no matter how small will make a huge difference.