A GREENOCK postal worker who holidayed in Milan weeks before coronavirus restrictions were enforced has told how the deadly illness left her barely able to walk upstairs.

Lynsey Marner-Low and her wife Erin headed to the city for a weekend in early March and returned home just as the virus took hold in Italy.

A few weeks after returning home, Lynsey, who works at the Knowe Road sorting office, began to feel like she had a bad cold and immediately let her employer know.

Within days, Lynsey gradually began to show symptoms of the lethal virus, including extreme fatigue, breathlessness, a high temperature and loss of taste and smell.

She contacted NHS24 and was advised to go for a COVID-19 test at a centre in Maryhill.

But as she was so unwell, she waited a day until the testing centre opened in Greenock.

After testing positive for the virus, Lynsey and her wife Erin - who was also showing symptoms by this time - self-isolated at their home in Inverkip Road.

Lynsey, 31, told the Tele: "It was absolutely horrendous.

"It all happened so quickly.

"I thought I just had a bit of a cold but then I started to get the high temperature, couldn't taste anything, and I was sleeping day and night.

"I could barely get up the stairs and I was so breathless.

"A lot of people have had it so much worse than me but it was awful."

Lynsey was off her work four weeks and during that time, her family dropped off food parcels - but she struggled to eat as she was so unwell.

The dedicated postal worker said it took her almost eight weeks to get back on her feet and she still struggles with breathlessness even now.

Lynsey was recognised in our Nominate Your Key Worker campaign for her dedication to her job, even after her battle with the virus.

According to Lynsey, everyone at the depot deserves to be recognised for their hard work in keeping people connected.

She added: "My employer has been really supportive.

"It's been quite scary at times.

"When you're dropping parcels off at people's houses, you obviously don't know if they have the virus and I've been worried about whether or not I can catch it again.

"It's been so busy that it is like Christmas every day in the depot.

"People are ordering so much online as they haven't been able to get out and about.

"It's great to be recognised in the key worker campaign.

"But the whole team at Knowe Road deserves recognition for how they've coped with the increase in parcels.

"I think we're all doing a great job."