Jarrid Linder is one of many people in Saskatchewan living with several symptoms long after his COVID-19 infection.
“I was in the hospital for 40 days in a coma … 80 days in the hospital roughly total,” Linder recalled. “Then I was in Wascana Rehab after that.”
The young father’s journey since recovery has not been easy, with new heart problems and numerous other conditions.
“It’s hard to have your son pulling your arm and saying, ‘Daddy come play with me,’ and you just … you can’t,” he said.
Linder is hoping to help thousands of other people by sharing his story — through an app created by the Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) at the University of Saskatchewan.
The Ethica app is available for download on any device or computer browser.
It runs users through a series of questions about symptoms and experiences over the last 18 months.
“(We’re getting reports of) things like shortness of breath, fatigue — fatigue is actually our number one reported symptom — trouble sleeping, heart palpitations,” VIDO Intervac researcher Alyson Kelvin said. “All those things that we talk about with long COVID.”
Kelvin says they’ve had a response so far of 400 people, but are hoping to see more people contribute — whether they’ve had COVID-19 or not.
“We’re looking for people who’ve had COVID-19 but don’t feel they’re experiencing long-term symptoms or long COVID,” she said. “We’re looking for people who haven’t had COVID at all. This allows us to differentiate what long COVID looks like.”
The data collected will be used to better understand long COVID and to create better support for people with long-term symptoms.
“People for the most part are trying to manage their symptoms themselves,” Kelvin said. “We see this as a real shortcoming in how we’re providing services in the province and that’s why the data is going to be so important.”
Linder is hopeful his contribution to the research will help him get back to playing with his young son — and help others get back to their lives as well.
“If I can help one person feel better by sharing what I have, then it’s worth it,” Linder said.