Sturgeon sought counselling after ‘breaking down' at Covid inquiry
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Daily Record
5 hours ago
- Daily Record
First day at school for Lanarkshire youngster who was Scotland's youngest Covid patient
Peyton Maguire was just three weeks old when she was diagnosed with Covid in the early days of the pandemic - but has bounced back and is now heading for Primary One A Lanarkshire youngster who was thought to be Scotland's youngest Covid patient when she was just three weeks old is all set to start school. Five-year-old Peyton Maguire is among the thousands of new starts who will be heading to classrooms across North and South Lanarkshire for the first time on Thursday when she starts in Primary One at Aitkenhead Primary in her home town of Uddingston. She weighed less than four pounds when she was born two months prematurely by section at University Hospital Wishaw in the first week of the Covid lockdown in March 2020, and the tiny newborn then had to spend time in isolation until finally testing negative and being able to go home for the first time the following month. Mum Tracy, now 32, and dad AJ, 34 were shocked when NHS Lanarkshire staff first diagnosed their three-week-old baby with the virus in April 2020 – and her story made headlines around the world in the earliest days of the pandemic, with Tracy now saying: 'The head teacher has joked that they're about to have a celebrity join the school.' Peyton had been delivered early after Tracy was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia, and was being cared for in an incubator in Wishaw's neonatal unit when her parents were told the alarming news that she'd tested positive for Covid-19. Her mum recalled: 'We were told we'd have to stay away from Peyton for 14 days and isolate at home but I pleaded not to be apart from my baby for that long. The staff kindly agreed I could to isolate with her in the hospital while AJ stayed at home. 'Watching the staff at work was incredible. They put their lives at risk to make sure my baby was getting fed and cuddled. Even wearing their PPE, they were determined to hold her. 'I found the same compassion when I had my second daughter, Harley, who's nearly two now. She was also premature and needed extra care. Peyton was able to visit me and Harley in the maternity unit and the staff were very happy to see her again.' Boxing coaches Tracy and AJ are grateful that Peyton's expert care during the traumatic period ensured she has had no long-term health problems, with Tracy adding: 'She's great except for a touch of asthma – it's a real tribute to the staff who looked after her. I was so moved when I found out some of them had to live away from their own children during the pandemic but were caring for my baby.' Peyton bounced back after her weeks of treatment at Wishaw General. The five-year-old loves fashion, gymnastics and drawing and can't wait to begin classes at Aitkenhead Primary, where she is all set with a schoolbag in her favourite colour of pink. Tracy said: 'We've been in so many papers, magazines and TV shows, but the most worthwhile thing her story has led us to do was taking part in a conference for neonatal nurses, where I shared my experience. 'I was also amazed when a woman tapped me on the shoulder in the street and told me she'd read my story and it was the only reason she'd felt confident to go to hospital to have her baby during the pandemic.' 'It's great to hear how she's doing and hard to believe that tiny, vulnerable baby is now a lively five-year-old who's about to go to school.'
Scottish Sun
7 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Tennis legend Monica Seles, 51, diagnosed with rare muscle-weakening condition as she bravely opens up
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) TENNIS great Monica Seles revealed she has been diagnosed with a rare muscle-weakening condition. Seles, 51, started experiencing double vision and extremely depleted strength in her arms and legs in 2019. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Monica Seles was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular autoimmune disease Credit: Getty 2 The tennis star won nine Grand Slams and was the dominant player before her tragic stabbing Credit: AP A long string of tests and scans - delayed by the Covid pandemic - ruled out brain tumours and motor neurone disease. The nine-time Grand Slam champion was eventually diagnosed with myasthenia gravis (MG) in 2022. Now Seles has gone public on neuromuscular autoimmune disease - which currently has no cure - and will raise awareness for the condition with an event around this month's US Open. MG affects most of the body but particularly the muscles that control the eyes - although symptoms can vary from day to day. Approximately 15-20 people per 100,000 - or 0.015 per cent of the population - are affected by MG, which sees the immune system attack the neuromuscular junction where nerves and muscles communicate. Seles told AP: "I would be playing [tennis] with some kids or family members, and I would miss a ball. "I was like, 'Yeah, I see two balls.' "These are obviously symptoms that you can't ignore. "It took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it's a difficult one. "It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot." BBC presenter taken to hospital after 'real wake up call' working at Wimbledon and putting off medical care Seles won seven of her nine Grand Slams by the age of 18. That included reaching eight Major finals in a row - winning seven - before she was tragically stabbed in April 1993 on court during a match in Hamburg by a fixated fan of Steffi Graf. The Yugoslavia-born star - who switched nationality to USA - returned in 1995 after a two-year absence. She reached the US Open final in her first Major since the stabbing then won the 1996 Australian Open, her ninth and final Grand Slam title. The lefty, who played with a double-handed forehand and backhand, officialy retired in 2008 five years after her final competitive match. Now living in Florida, she told The Athletic about her MG diagnosis: 'I thought, 'OK, just push through it.' "But a couple of instances happened when — on court and in daily life — I realised there was something going on. What is myasthenia gravis? MYASTHENIA GRAVIS is a rare long-term condition that causes muscle weakness. It typically has phases when it improves and phases when it gets worse. MG usually affects most of the body, spreading from the eyes and face to other areas over weeks, months or years. But for some people with myasthenia gravis, only the eyes are affected. It is common for people to have "flare-ups", where symptoms are very troublesome, followed by periods of remission, where symptoms improve. It's an autoimmune condition, which means it's the result of the immune system (the body's natural defence against infection) mistakenly attacking a healthy part of the body. In myasthenia gravis, the immune system damages the communication system between the nerves and muscles, making the muscles weak and easily tired. It can affect people of any age, typically starting in women under 40 and men over 60. Common symptoms of myasthenia gravis include: droopy eyelids double vision difficulty making facial expressions problems chewing and difficulty swallowing slurred speech weak arms, legs or neck shortness of breath and occasionally serious breathing difficulties The symptoms tend to get worse when you're tired. Many people find they're worse towards the end of the day, and better the next morning after getting some sleep. Source: NHS "After coming out of my former country to the IMG Academy, I had to totally reset. "When I became No1, it was a huge reset because everybody treats you differently. "Then obviously when I got stabbed, that was a huge reset. And then when I was diagnosed, it was a huge reset. "The day-to-day part of managing it, depending on my symptoms, is really adjusting, you know. I think anybody else who has Myasthenia Gravis knows it's a continuous adjustment. "After my stabbing, I had to deal with that internally for quite a few years to process it and my MG diagnosis was kind of very similar. "I had to understand my new normal of day-to-day life, what I can do work-wise and different things."
The Herald Scotland
11 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Trump's Medicaid cuts chip away at my right to live
The system was already failing us before these recent cuts. Getting enough hours felt like a battle. Navigating paperwork was a full-time job. The support I needed was out of reach - offered in theory, withheld in practice. My caregivers have other jobs and families. Coordinating support feels like solving a puzzle that keeps changing. When I can't make it work, I miss out. I cancel plans, skip opportunities, stay home. Not because I'm disabled, but because the system makes participation impossible. We recently marked two anniversaries: 35 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law and 60 years since Medicaid was created. These were meant to be moments of celebration. Instead, I spent those days at a 60-hour vigil outside the Capitol, protesting the Medicaid cuts buried inside what the Trump administration calls "One Big Beautiful Bill." I sat sweating in my wheelchair while they celebrated the ADA, honoring disability rights while gutting the program that makes those rights real. Trump's hollow gestures mask brutal cuts for people with disabilities The symbolism was hollow. The reality was brutal. Medicaid pays the caregivers who help me eat, bathe and start my day. Without that funding, that care disappears - and so do the jobs that provide it. Opinion: Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill victory tour hits major bump - voters hate it I've had a disability - muscular dystrophy - my entire life, and have relied on Medicaid throughout my adulthood. The former shaped my identity with pride. The latter turned my existence into a negotiation, where my needs are measured against cost and my future hinges on someone else's math and stock prices. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. In 2020, I moved out on my own during the COVID-19 pandemic and asked for more caregiving hours. I was denied. I appealed to my Medicaid provider but was ultimately rejected again, essentially because I was "not disabled enough." That's what it's like to live in a system where your basic needs are judged by people who don't understand your life. Millions of families are in the same impossible position - forced to choose between caregiving and working, between paying for help and paying rent. The wages are low and the hours are unpredictable. Without stability, how do you build a life? One of the harshest provisions, part of nearly $1 trillion in cuts, would force people with lifelong disabilities to reverify their Medicaid eligibility every six months - as if conditions like muscular dystrophy might just disappear. This isn't about fraud prevention. It's about making the process so exhausting that people give up or get left behind. Two years ago, my Medicaid office lost a form. They said I never submitted it and ended my coverage. I had to start over, submitting more than 400 pages of documents. I went two months without insurance or caregiving. It was terrifying. And this bill could make that nightmare the norm. Medicaid cuts will make care a luxury for Americans with disabilities The agenda behind these cuts reflects a cruel belief: that people like me are expendable. That our care is a luxury. That billionaires deserve tax breaks more than I deserve to go to the bathroom more than twice a day. But I've seen what's possible when we invest in care. I helped pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights in New Jersey because I know how essential care work is - and how deeply undervalued it remains. I've lost caregivers not because they didn't care, but because they couldn't afford to stay. Your Turn: Medicaid handouts only create dependency. Able-bodied adults should work. | Opinion Forum Medicaid makes life possible. It funds home and community-based care not just for disabled people but also for older adults, parents and caregivers across the country. When Congress cuts Medicaid, they aren't just targeting a program. They're threatening our ability to live, to care and to be cared for. And here's the truth: You don't have to be disabled to need Medicaid. One accident, one diagnosis, one lost job - that's all it takes. When I couldn't get the care I needed, my best friend Zack stepped in. He crashed on my couch for months to make sure I was safe and fed. He did it out of love. But no one should have to rely on a friend to survive. We need more than speeches. We need leaders who see disabled people as human beings. We need a Medicaid system that doesn't just help us survive but lets us thrive. So don't just celebrate the ADA. Don't just mark Medicaid's anniversary. Show us that our lives matter. Protect the programs that give us independence, dignity and joy. From where I sit, holding tight to the care that keeps me alive, this bill isn't beautiful. It's a threat to everything we've built - and everything we still hope to become. Steve Way, an actor and comedian, is a member of the Caring Across Generations' Creative Care Council.
