A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Shalini Arias, a 23-year-old anthropologist, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and her tattoo photographed through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 5, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. As some doctors shrugged off her symptoms, Arias resorted to leaning on her support network. "They don't judge me, and they have helped me learn to live with this the best possible way I can," she said. Arias got a friend to design a tattoo for her to remind herself of the importance of her network of family, friends and colleagues. "It signifies growth and love, the love and support I feel from all the people who are helping me get through these difficult times." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Maria Eugenia Diez, a 43-year-old ICU nurse, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Chiloeches, Spain, March 9, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Year-long symptoms have made Diez give up exercise and forego medical congresses where she has trouble concentrating. "The first time I tried to take a swim in my pool, thinking that the water would help me improve my symptoms, it was very distressing. I started feeling out of breath the more I was submerging in the water. I had to sit on the steps and let the water surround me no higher than my waist to regain my breath," she said. Diez sometimes feels like a rookie at work despite her 20-year experience and has invented routines to remember tasks she used to perform automatically. She feels she has lost part of her identity, but she tries to stay positive. "I'm adapting to what I have, I will enjoy what I have now and I can't keep thinking about what I had before. It's hard because I miss it a lot." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Jorge Martin, 44, the head of a higher-education association, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Ansoain, northern Spain, March 17, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Martin has been off work for more than a year due to long COVID. He developed double pneumonia when he got infected with coronavirus during the first wave of the disease. He has been battling with cognitive difficulties and a long list of physical problems ever since. "I would not have pictured myself at my age using rehabilitation tools, but I've welcomed them because they help me with my physical aches and provide me with some relief from the distress of looking at the calendar and realising that a year has gone by and I'm still not recovered," he said. Martin is worried about the toll the disease is taking on his job. "I forget the names of family members, even my own license plate. The other day, I was trying to write something down and I realised I was writing again what I had written two days before. My job is intellectual, what's going to happen if this gets worse?" REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Anna Kemp, a 51-year-old script translator from Britain who has been living in Spain for almost 30 years, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and a park bench near Kemp's house photographed through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 3, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Kemp says long COVID affects her ability to communicate in Spanish. "I lack (mental) agility, I feel like I'm communicating through a crystal glass," she said. Kemp had to give up dancing, swimming and her daily long walks due to the permanent fatigue she experiences. "The first time I managed to walk as far as the park by my house, I felt like I was flying. It was only a few meters away, and I had to sit to rest, but I felt like the whole world was opening up to me. I used to go on foot everywhere and it was as if I was on my way somewhere again. I had this idea that my recovery was ahead of me, later I realised that was not the case." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Nuria Sepulveda, a 44-year-old self-employed worker who co-owns a courier franchise, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, April 9, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Sepulveda got sick on March 12, 2020, during the first wave of the disease, and she had to visit the emergency room on several occasions for symptoms that ended up being diagnosed as double pneumonia, bowel bleeding and urine infection among others. She tried to return to work in November, but the fatigue was so overwhelming that "3 hours of work felt like a 12-hour work day." An avid sports practitioner, she remembers the exact date her body gave her some relief to get back on the bicycle. "When I felt the fatigue that had been dragging me down for months was getting a bit better, I got my bike out. It was September, 28. I will never forget it, it was the first day I was able to practice sports again. I couldn't help crying," she said. Sepulveda believes we have two lives, the second one starts when we realise we only have one. REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Pedro Sanchez-Vicente, a 56-year-old event organiser, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and the armchair where Sanchez-Vicente spends most of his time, photographed through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 17, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Sanchez-Vicente spent 100 days intubated in an ICU unit after getting infected with COVID in March, 2020. But after his release from the hospital he started developing many of the symptoms associated with long COVID. "I'm not your typical long COVID case, because most of those patients haven't been hospitalised or not for too long, unlike me. But I share with them the mental mist, the paresthesia, the hearing problems, conjunctivitis, eye herpes. You could say I'm a hybrid," he said. When Sanchez-Vicente got transferred to a regular ward at the hospital, he spent most of his time in the armchair in his room, he was so weak he could barely stand up and laying down in bed for long periods of time was difficult. "When I returned home I saw the armchair my family had bought for me as a surprise. I have pretty much been living in that armchair for the past year. Even now I find myself sleeping in it for hours every night because I have difficulty breathing in bed." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Anna Kemp, a 51-year-old script translator from Britain who has been living in Spain for almost 30 years, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 3, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Kemp says long COVID affects her ability to communicate in Spanish. "I lack (mental) agility, I feel like I'm communicating through a crystal glass," she said. Kemp had to give up dancing, swimming and her daily long walks due to the permanent fatigue she experiences. "The first time I managed to walk as far as the park by my house, I felt like I was flying. It was only a few meters away, and I had to sit to rest, but I felt like the whole world was opening up to me. I used to go on foot everywhere and it was as if I was on my way somewhere again. I had this idea that my recovery was ahead of me, later I realised that was not the case." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Shalini Arias, a 23-year-old anthropologist, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 5, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. As some doctors shrugged off her symptoms, Arias resorted to leaning on her support network. "They don't judge me, and they have helped me learn to live with this the best possible way I can," she said. Arias got a friend to design a tattoo for her to remind herself of the importance of her network of family, friends and colleagues. "It signifies growth and love, the love and support I feel from all the people who are helping me get through these difficult times." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Susana Matarranz, a 44-year-old primary school teacher, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and a blank blackboard photographed through blue plastic at Matarranz's home, in Madrid, Spain, March 8, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Matarranz gets emotional when she explains how much she misses her students. Matarranz got infected on March 1, 2020. At first, she only noticed the loss of smell and taste, but soon afterwards she started suffering from severe stomach problems and acute joint pain. "My right collar bone is swollen, I can barely lift my arm, I feel like I have aged prematurely," she said. Matarranz returned to work in September, but got infected a second time in November and hasn't been able to continue teaching ever since. "The part of me that is my profession is empty, like that blackboard. A piece of my heart, which are my students, whom I love dearly, feels empty and I feel like at this moment there's nothing I can do to fill it in." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Pedro Sanchez-Vicente, a 56-year-old event organiser, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 17, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Sanchez-Vicente spent 100 days intubated in an ICU unit after getting infected with COVID in March, 2020. But after his release from the hospital he started developing many of the symptoms associated with long COVID. "I'm not your typical long COVID case, because most of those patients haven't been hospitalised or not for too long, unlike me. But I share with them the mental mist, the paresthesia, the hearing problems, conjunctivitis, eye herpes. You could say I'm a hybrid," he said. When Sanchez-Vicente got transferred to a regular ward at the hospital, he spent most of his time in the armchair in his room, he was so weak he could barely stand up and laying down in bed for long periods of time was difficult. "When I returned home I saw the armchair my family had bought for me as a surprise. I have pretty much been living in that armchair for the past year. Even now I find myself sleeping in it for hours every night because I have difficulty breathing in bed." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Amaia Artica, a 42-year-old nursery school worker, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Pamplona, Spain, March 16, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Permanent fatigue, daily fever, muscle and joint pain, insomnia and constant mental lapses have kept Artica from doing the job she loves at a nursery school since she got infected with coronavirus during the first wave of the disease. Her brain fogginess is so acute that there are days she finds herself staring at a blank wall, feeling "out of it". Loss for words, inability to remember how to do simple tasks and overall forgetfulness have become part of her life. Artica suffers from daily low-grade fever. "My family doctor has been very supportive of me throughout this ordeal, but not all doctors have been that understanding. A specialist doctor told me to stop taking my temperature, that if I didn't pay attention to it, it would go away because it was all in my head." REUTERS/Susana VeraShow moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Jorge Martin, 44, the head of a higher-education association, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and an exercise band, a ball and a seed bag belonging to Martin photographed through blue plastic, in Ansoain, northern Spain, March 17, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Martin has been off work for more than a year due to long COVID. He developed double pneumonia when he got infected with coronavirus during the first wave of the disease. He has been battling with cognitive difficulties and a long list of physical problems ever since. "I would not have pictured myself at my age using rehabilitation tools, but I've welcomed them because they help me with my physical aches and provide me with some relief from the distress of looking at the calendar and realising that a year has gone by and I'm still not recovered," he said. Martin is worried about the toll the disease is taking on his job. "I forget the names of family members, even my own license plate. The other day, I was trying to write something down and I realised I was writing again what I had written two days before. My job is intellectual, what's going to happen if this gets worse?" REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Nuria Sepulveda, a 44-year-old self-employed worker who co-owns a courier franchise, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and a wheel of her bicycle photographed through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, April 9, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Sepulveda got sick on March 12, 2020, during the first wave of the disease, and she had to visit the emergency room on several occasions for symptoms that ended up being diagnosed as double pneumonia, bowel bleeding and urine infection among others. She tried to return to work in November, but the fatigue was so overwhelming that "3 hours of work felt like a 12-hour work day." An avid sports practitioner, she remembers the exact date her body gave her some relief to get back on the bicycle. "When I felt the fatigue that had been dragging me down for months was getting a bit better, I got my bike out. It was September, 28. I will never forget it, it was the first day I was able to practice sports again. I couldn't help crying," she said. Sepulveda believes we have two lives, the second one starts when we realise we only have one. REUTERS/Susana VeraShow moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Susana Matarranz, a 44-year-old primary school teacher, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Madrid, Spain, March 8, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Matarranz gets emotional when she explains how much she misses her students. Matarranz got infected on March 1, 2020. At first, she only noticed the loss of smell and taste, but soon afterwards she started suffering from severe stomach problems and acute joint pain. "My right collar bone is swollen, I can barely lift my arm, I feel like I have aged prematurely," she said. Matarranz returned to work in September, but got infected a second time in November and hasn't been able to continue teaching ever since. "The part of me that is my profession is empty, like that blackboard. A piece of my heart, which are my students, whom I love dearly, feels empty and I feel like at this moment there's nothing I can do to fill it in." REUTERS/Susana VeraShow moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Teresa Dominguez, 55, a social worker specialising in disabilities, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and her diary notebook photographed through blue plastic, in Collado Villalba, Spain, March 4, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Dominguez had only missed work when she gave birth to her children. The "mental mist", as she describes her inability to concentrate, and permanent fatigue after performing the simplest of everyday tasks have constrained her life for the past year, since her March 2020 coronavirus infection. "I started writing a diary because when doctors asked me about my symptoms, I couldn't remember many of them. At first doctors didn't know much about long COVID and I felt like I could help them out and others in my situation by providing them with that information. It has often been difficult to make them believe that we are really sick, that we are not making this up," she said. REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Maria Eugenia Diez, a 43-year-old ICU nurse, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and her home pool photographed through blue plastic, in Chiloeches, Spain, March 9, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Year-long symptoms have made Diez give up exercise and forego medical congresses where she has trouble concentrating. "The first time I tried to take a swim in my pool, thinking that the water would help me improve my symptoms, it was very distressing. I started feeling out of breath the more I was submerging in the water. I had to sit on the steps and let the water surround me no higher than my waist to regain my breath," she said. Diez sometimes feels like a rookie at work despite her 20-year experience and has invented routines to remember tasks she used to perform automatically. She feels she has lost part of her identity, but she tries to stay positive. "I'm adapting to what I have, I will enjoy what I have now and I can't keep thinking about what I had before. It's hard because I miss it a lot." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Beatriz Perez, a 51-year-old computer engineer, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Fuenlabrada, Spain, March 4, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Perez used to go trekking on weekends, but now is rarely able to complete her personal challenge of walking all the way down the stairs from her eighth-floor apartment, not to mention up. "One day I tried to at least go down the stairs and I don't even think I made it two floors down, I was in so much pain. I felt so disappointed. Am I ever going to be able to live a normal life again?" she said. Permanent fatigue, muscle and joint pain and forgetfulness have kept her off work for a year, and she says "the worst thing is living with the uncertainty" of not knowing when or if she will recover. Perez leads a daily mindfulness online class with other people who suffer from long COVID. "If it were not for meditation I might have already been put on antidepressants." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Beatriz Perez, a 51-year-old computer engineer, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and the staircase leading to Perez's flat photographed through blue plastic, in Fuenlabrada, Spain, March 4, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Perez used to go trekking on weekends, but now is rarely able to complete her personal challenge of walking all the way down the stairs from her eighth-floor apartment, not to mention up. "One day I tried to at least go down the stairs and I don't even think I made it two floors down, I was in so much pain. I felt so disappointed. Am I ever going to be able to live a normal life again?" she said. Permanent fatigue, muscle and joint pain and forgetfulness have kept her off work for a year, and she says "the worst thing is living with the uncertainty" of not knowing when or if she will recover. Perez leads a daily mindfulness online class with other people who suffer from long COVID. "If it were not for meditation I might have already been put on antidepressants." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
A combination picture shows long COVID sufferer Amaia Artica, 42, posing for a photograph taken through blue plastic, and a thermometer belonging to Artica photographed through blue plastic, in Pamplona, Spain, March 16, 2021. The photographs were taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Permanent fatigue, daily fever, muscle and joint pain, insomnia and constant mental lapses have kept Artica from doing the job she loves at a nursery school since she got infected with coronavirus during the first wave of the disease. Her brain fogginess is so acute that there are days she finds herself staring at a blank wall, feeling "out of it". Loss for words, inability to remember how to do simple tasks and overall forgetfulness have become part of her life. Artica suffers from daily low-grade fever. "My family doctor has been very supportive of me throughout this ordeal, but not all doctors have been that understanding. A specialist doctor told me to stop taking my temperature, that if I didn't pay attention to it, it would go away because it was all in my head." REUTERS/Susana Vera Show moreShow less
Long COVID sufferer Teresa Dominguez, 55, a social worker specialising in disabilities, poses for a photograph taken through blue plastic, in Collado Villalba, Spain, March 4, 2021. The photograph was taken through blue plastic to visualise the effects of long COVID. Dominguez had only missed work when she gave birth to her children. The "mental mist", as she describes her inability to concentrate, and permanent fatigue after performing the simplest of everyday tasks have constrained her life for the past year, since her March 2020 coronavirus infection. "I started writing a diary because when doctors asked me about my symptoms, I couldn't remember many of them. At first doctors didn't know much about long COVID and I felt like I could help them out and others in my situation by providing them with that information. It has often been difficult to make them believe that we are really sick, that we are not making this up," she said. REUTERS/Susana Vera . Image used for illustrative purpose.Show moreShow less