A FIREFIGHTER is still recovering a year after he suffered two strokes caused by Covid-19 after his body started to attack itself.

Adam Sieradzki, 39, who had no health problems prior to having the virus, recalled how a doctor told him starkly: 'either you will survive or not'. 

Scans detected that the 39-year-old's had suffered two life-threatening blood clots in his brain after he collapsed and lost the ability to speak.

Mr Sieradski, who is Polish and lives in Newtongrange, in Midlothian, said his medical team initially thought he was struggling to communicate because he couldn't speak English'- he speaks fluently.

He has participated in the largest study of its kind world-wide which is being led by the University of Edinburgh to investigate the risks of Covid patients suffering a stroke. 

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There is evidence that it is affecting younger patients who are also experiencing more severe effects from the stroke and there has been a number of deaths.

Mr Sieradzki became unwell on March 23 last year after returning home from a night shift when his team had responded to a fire.

He said: "I came back home and I had terrible headache, which is rare for me, I maybe get about two a year. I lay down and slept for four or five hours and woke up with a high temperature. It was 39.2 degrees. 

"I then developed a chest infection and pneumonia. Around the tenth day I had to phone the ambulance because my face was getting numb and my fingers were tingling but someone on the other end of the phone said I didn't need to go to hospital because I didn't have breathing problems.

"I managed to organise a wee visit to the community hospital on the twelfth day. They checked my oxygen and it was extremely low, at around 89 (normal  levels are at least 95%).

"They re-directed me to the Royal Infirmary. A doctor came to my ward and introduced himself and he said 'so the results came back and either you will survive or not.'

Mr Sieradzki, says he was 'on the cusp' of being moved to intensive care, but his condition improved and he was transferred to a Covid ward but his condition took an unexpected turn for the worse.

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He said: "On the second day of being in hospital, I went to the toilet and felt faint and collapsed onto my bed. That's when I suffered the first stroke.

"A couple of hours after that, I took another trip to the toilet and the same thing happened again.  That was my second stroke.  I couldn't build a sentence. I would say one word and the whole sentence disappeared from my mind.

"The doctors assumed I couldn't speak English. I was passing them information on my phone."

He was taken for a CT scan, which identified two blood clots in his brain. 

He said: "They concluded that the first stroke had been caused by a clot from my calf that had travelled up to my brain.  They reckoned the second stroke was caused by a clot possibly travelling from my heart to my brain."

He was treated with blood thinning medicine for six months and after undergoing tests to exclude other causes such as a hole in the heart, doctors confirmed that the strokes had been caused by Covid-19.

"My own body tried to attack itself," added Mr Sieradzki. "When I was discharged my health was really poor. My heart rate was 125-30 bpm when it normally oscilating between 55 and 60."

The firefighter says his is now 85% recovered but still suffers from fatigue and speech problems and says the illness also took its toll on his emotional wellbeing and home life with wife Kazia. He is on a phased return to work and has not been vaccinated yet and says he worries that he could pick up a different variant of Covid and suffer another stroke.

"I still have to repeat words, it's quite frustrating," said the fire fighter, who is married to Kazia,40.

The Stroke Association is funding the world’s largest research study to investigate the reasons why Covid-19 might raise the risk of stroke. The University of Edinburgh is leading the research alongside the British Heart Foundation.

Mr Sieradzki has already taken part, saying he wants to 'get involved in as much research as possible."

READ MORE: Stroke survivor owes recovering to daughter's quick response 

The study is using health data from nearly all UK adults who have had Covid-19, allowing researchers to follow the outcomes of every patient. 

Data analysts will compare this to health data for people without the virus, to confirm if Covid-19 increases risk of stroke and by how much. Researchers will also compare stroke risk due to Covid-19 with other infections and cardiovascular conditions.

Dr Rubina Ahmed, Research Director of the Stroke Association said: “Stroke already strikes every five minutes and we’re extremely concerned that Covid-19 may lead to more strokes. 

"Equally concerning are reports that stroke patients who have Covid-19 may be younger, and experience more severe effects of stroke, including death. 

"Severe illness due to Covid-19 is a challenge enough– but it’s worrying that a deadly stroke might also be on the way. 

"This new research can help guide the development of new treatments that can prevent life-threatening strokes.”

Mr Sieradzki's message to those who may still believe Covid does not affect younger people seriously: "Volunteer to spend a day on a Covid ward."