Author Michael Rosen has said he is still experiencing the effects of Covid after he was admitted to hospital with the virus last year.
The poet and author, 75, spent 40 days in an induced coma after he was put into intensive care as he struggled to recover from the illness.
Rosen will discuss his experience of being cared for by the NHS, who he says saved his life, in an upcoming London Literature Festival event.
“In terms of symptoms, I have a foggy left eye, I have a left ear that doesn’t really hear much, I have numb toes and I get dizzy quite often, which is mild, and then, every now and then, I get vertigo,” he told the PA news agency.
“It’s quite rare, the vertigo, but I do get dizzy patches walking along.”
He added: “I have to consciously think about breathing.
“That may be a consequence of Covid or that may be a consequence of the coma, either or both.”
Rosen has published a book, titled Many Different Kinds Of Love, about his illness.
He said writing about his experience has helped him process what has happened to him.
“You have feelings swirling round in your head that you can’t necessarily understand or cope with,” he said.
“And then if you put them down on paper, things start becoming clear.”
Rosen has credited the NHS with saving his life.
“It’s quite amazing the care I got,” he said.
“They saved my life. When I was taken in, I was in great danger of dying.”
He added he hopes to “repay the favour” the NHS gave him by telling others about the lifesaving care he was given at the London Literature Festival.
Rosen will appear alongside novelist Kate Mosse at the festival’s event at the Southbank Centre on October 30.