Published: 24 May 2026
Emerge Australia community member Chris Quill recently spoke with Eleanor Campbell of the Canberra Times.
In the spring of 2022, Chris Quill was in his late 30s and at the peak of his life. He exercised up to four times a week and was an active father to two young sons. Four years later, the Canberra-based disability support teacher is surprised if he does not wake up in pain. The 42-year-old, who lives in Kambah with his wife, Tessa, and their children, is one of thousands of Australians struggling with long COVID.
Chris first caught COVID-19 in late 2022 while teaching at Caroline Chisholm School in south Tuggeranong. Six weeks later, he noticed that as time went on, his symptoms were getting worse and worse.
“I remember going to the hospital and then trying to walk back, and I collapsed because my legs gave out,” he recalls.
“There was a cognitive element to it as well. I couldn’t stay awake for more than half an hour. There was massive body pain and massive head aches that went on for years.”
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