A woman left bed-bound and unable to leave the house because of long Covid has rediscovered her passion for life by setting up a houseplant business.But she caught Covid weeks into starting sixth form and admits she "never really recovered".Ruth from Llandysul, Ceredigion, described the debilitating impact.
Ruth was a British champion by the time she was 12, and the youngest person to be competing in the sport's premier division a year later."I trained for two-and-a-half hours a day five days a week and having to give it up was absolutely devastating - it left a massive hole."Even though Ruth's parents run a successful plant nursery, she had always "sworn blind I would never go into horticulture"."Having the plants did a lot for my mental health," she said.
"We converted what was our old propagation room, covered all the cement and concrete with old wood from the polytunnel benches," Ruth explained.