Leigh Park former pro wrestler, 75, claims he had Covid-19 in December

Former professional wrestler Mick Powell, 75, was rushed to Queen Alexandra Hospital on December 1 after being struck down with what at the time was a mystery illness.

Once admitted, Mick said doctors struggled to diagnose the debilitating virus.

However, after taking a blood test last month due to ongoing health problems, Mick, from Leigh Park, had antibodies that showed he has had Covid-19.

Experts say it is impossible to know when this was. But Mick says it must date back to when he first fell ill.

‘I had shortness of breath and high temperature – symptoms we now know are linked to Covid-19,' Mick said.

‘I had so many consultants around me but they just didn’t know what was wrong.

The pensioner went rapidly downhill and at one point his kidneys were operating at only five per cent of normal capacity.

‘I nearly died on five occasions,’ said Mick.

‘I don’t remember much about it but I do get flashbacks – I just remember not being able to breathe.’

Eventually Mick began to recover and on February 27 he was discharged after nine weeks in hospital.

He has continued to experience health problems ever since – many of which are consistent with emerging reports of long-term implications of Covid-19.

Mick said: ‘My lung capacity has been reduced by half and I still have difficulty breathing.

‘The doctors said I’ve damaged one of the sacs around my heart which has left me in pain.

‘They think it could take me two to three years to get back to normal – if I ever do.’

It was on a follow up appointment that Mick was given the news he has had Covid-19.

‘It was during my last visit they confirmed I’ve had a very aggressive form of Covid-19 although they will not go as far as saying it was what first made me ill,’ said Mick.

The first UK cases of coronavirus were identified on January 31 when two Chinese nationals tested positive in York.

Mick is unsure as to where he contracted Covid. He travelled to Mexico shortly before becoming ill and said it was a possibility it may have been at an airport.

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Dr Sarah Fouch is a biomedical scientist at the University of Portsmouth and is heavily involved in the coronavirus testing programme at Basingstoke Hospital.

Dr Fouch told The News: ‘We can’t rule it out but without taking a test at the time we can’t really say whether it was Covid.

‘It’s possible he could have had another respiratory infection which can also be very debilitating and could have left him more vulnerable to contracting coronavirus at a later date.

‘We also still don’t know how long the antibodies last and so we can’t definitively say whether they were produced in December or closer to the test.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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