Flu left me on permanent oxygen and needing a double lung transplant

As an A&E nurse, Claire Davies found out in the worst way possible that flu is not ‘just a cold’ – and sharing her experience made her a target for tin-hatted anti-vax conspiracy theorists

Three years ago, I found out the hard way just how crippling the flu can be. Before, I was able to go out, enjoy my job as a nurse and meet up with friends for days out. Now I’m mostly homebound and had to give up the career I loved for home-working because the flu left me needing oxygen permanently. I am also on the waiting list for a double lung transplant, without which I have no idea how long I may have left to live.

With flu, people think, “Oh, it's just a cold”. But for anyone with a chronic respiratory condition, it is like death.

As a child, I was always in hospital with chest infections, pneumonia and bronchitis. I was six when I was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans and severe cystic bronchiectasis. I was like a cystic fibrosis patient, really, in terms of infection, so I learned how to manage my health.

Things evened out from 17 to my early thirties and I lived a relatively normal life. Despite people telling me what I couldn’t do, I trained as a nurse and worked in A&E for eight years.

When Covid hit, my consultant advised me that I had to shield. I stayed at home for two years. I couldn't see my friends. I only saw my mum, who was my bubble. It was terrifying, actually. I'd been fighting my whole life, and then we were dealing with something completely new that the world didn't know about, and we didn’t know how it would affect me.

In September 2022, I went back to work and tried to get back to normal. Maybe my immunity wasn’t the best because of the shielding, but I caught the flu. Normally, when I have an infection, I have rescue packs to use at home and steroids to manage symptoms. After two weeks, I wasn’t any better, and it got to the point where I needed to go to the hospital, where I tested positive for the flu. The consultant told me that, if I deteriorated, I was too sick to go on a ventilator.

‘I was on 24/7 oxygen in the hospital, and even weeks later, I couldn't get out of bed. I was being washed in bed because I had no energy. I thought: this could really kill me’ (Supplied)

It was only when they put a do-not-resuscitate note on my bed that I realised how serious it was. I was on 24/7 oxygen in the hospital, and even weeks later, I couldn't get out of bed. I was being washed in bed because I had no energy. I thought: this could really kill me.

I started to go over whether I had done everything in my life I've wanted to do and running through all the should-have-dones in my head. One thing I ruled out was sky diving. I once looked after a patient whose parachute didn't open, so no sky dives and no bungee jumps. I don't even do roller coasters. But I do wish I had danced, and I wish I’d pursued music.

There are no support groups near me for people on oxygen. We desperately need something, so that’s what I’m trying to establish. I have the flu and Covid vaccine every year as standard. I would have had the vaccine anyway, but if I hadn't, I may not be here today. I follow advice from my consultant, my clinician and my lung transplant team. Whatever they tell me to do, I do, because it's in my best interests. I am the one who has to look after myself, no one else, so I do my chest physio. I use my nebulisers. I carry oxygen around. I get 22 bottles of oxygen a week delivered to my house. I’ve worked extremely hard to have a quality of life.

I’m practically housebound because of the oxygen I need to wheel around with me. That’s why I’ve been helping the charity Asthma + Lung UK raise awareness. Because I talk about vaccinations, I attract the tin hat brigade’s conspiracy theories. It’s a good job I’ve got thick skin. I couldn’t give a toss because it’s what social media is. What I do notice is how many of these comments come from middle-aged men. I wonder how they would feel if their daughter had been through what I have been through?

We teach children to be kind and respect people – these are fully grown men. Then people have compared two photos: one where I did look like I was dying, and then another where my hair is a different colour. How dare I go to a hairdresser’s and get my hair dyed! How dare I not look like I'm dying! One man said that I’d been on Ozempic because my weight had fluctuated. You bet it has: I need a double lung transplant.

What does get to me is when my friends and family are affected by people lying about me. They know how hard I work. They know my anxiety about going through a transplant and my wondering what my future’s going to be like. All while living in a world where I have to breathe in everyone’s crap from smoking and vaping.

I see both sides of the doctor strikes. The general public doesn't understand the workings of a clinical environment, the stress, the hard work and the battles, and they deserve the pay rise. They work bloody hard and in horrendous conditions that are not obviously exposed to the media. But then, with rising cases of the flu, we’re at more risk because of the scaremongering around vaccinations.

Everyone has to make their own decision regarding vaccinations. I can't tell you what you should or shouldn’t do. I'm here to help, to educate, to raise awareness. But if you have somebody vulnerable at home, then the main aim is to work together to protect them for the greater good.

Asthma + Lung UK has a free Winter Wellness Guide to help people stay well this winter. Sign up here