'IT WAS TERRIFYING'
Claire Sweeney and son, 5, rushed to hospital with coronavirus symptoms as she claims she had it in December
CLAIRE Sweeney was rushed to hospital with "horrendous" coronavirus symptoms back in December.
The actress, 49, and her son Jaxon, five, were both"very, very ill" from what they believe was the deadly disease earlier this year.
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Claire told the panel on Tuesday: "It hit me on Christmas Eve. I was doing pantomime.
"I literally got wiped off my feet - it was like a bus had hit me. I had headaches, pains in the chest, fever, a cough, I lost my voice."
She added: "Jaxon got really ill. He had this relentless hacking cough and a temperature.
"I was very worried about him. It was terrifying."
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Claire explained that she was sent home twice from the panto show, before deciding to go a walk-in centre.
She recalled; "The doctor said to me, 'We've never heard lungs that bad on a non-smoker.
"They sent me to hospital to get X-rays. It was horrendous. I was very, very ill and it frightened me."
The former Brookside star thought she had a "severe bout of flu" at the time but when news of coronavirus first made headlines around the world, she became convinced she'd had it.
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"I said, 'I've never felt anything like this before, it just felt weird and different. When we heard about coronavirus I said, 'I had that'. Every symptom is there. My friends thought I was bonkers."
Claire revealed it took her a month to get better and said she was grateful she could rely on relatives to look after both her and her son in Liverpool at the time.
They are both recovered now and she is waiting for the antibody test to confirm that she had the virus.
The 60 Minute Makeover said the ordeal made her reflect on her work/family life balance and whether she should spend more time with Jaxon - whose father, Daniel Reilly, she split from in 2014.
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She said: "It made me rethink. I'm a workaholic. I work so hard.
"I thought, 'I should have a bit more time with my boy. I should take it easy. You realise you're not indestructible."
The TV star is currently homeschooling Jaxon in lockdown.
The youngster will not be returning to school as "his school have decided not to let his age group [reception] go back."
She said: "I'm loving hanging out with him. I'm loving the freedom of not going to work and being with him every day.
"Homeschooling is terrible. I'm rubbish. I'm like, 'This is a nightmare'."
More than 47,000 in the UK have died from coronavirus, with 11,650 deaths in care homes, according to stats experts.
Despite that, officials say deaths in England are at their lowest level for six weeks.
It comes after Boris Johnson announced plans to further relax lockdown rules, including social gatherings and the opening of non-essential shops. Thousands of high street shops, department stores and shopping centres in the UK will reopen on June 15.
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