I got Covid in early 2021. During lockdown. Nothing was available in Stirling due to the restrictions. Erina was by my side through every single moment of what followed. This is our story and the reason Nour Wellness Hub exists today.
The infection left me with brain inflammation. One of the complications nobody warned about, going far beyond the respiratory symptoms people associated with Covid at the time.
The brain inflammation meant I lost the ability to swallow. I lost a significant amount of weight. Scary times. The fatigue was total, the kind that sleep does not fix and rest does not touch. Erina was there through all of it, watching, supporting, refusing to give up even when I was close to doing exactly that.
The infection also left me with two conditions now recognised as common post-Covid complications but barely understood then. MCAS, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, where the immune system overreacts to triggers it should ignore. And Dysautonomia, a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system affecting heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, temperature regulation, and dozens of other functions the body should manage automatically. Both very common after Covid.
It was lockdown, 2021. Nothing was available in Stirling due to the restrictions. I was largely on my own with my symptoms, but never truly alone because Erina never left.
At the worst point I faced a stark reality. Two options: to give up entirely, or to fight for a way through. Erina fought alongside me. That made the difference.
I spent hours going through scientific papers, medical research, clinical studies. Anything that pointed toward what might help after a severe Covid infection. Not wellness blogs. Actual peer-reviewed research. And one treatment kept appearing: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Nothing was available in Stirling or anywhere nearby due to the Covid restrictions. So I began travelling down south to England to access HBOT sessions. Erina was there too, making sure I kept going. Every time I went, I felt better. Not immediately, not dramatically, but consistently, progressively, undeniably.
That is not a metaphor. That is what happened. HBOT was my last chance and it worked.
I am not fully recovered. I will tell you that myself. I am at around ninety percent of where I was before the infection and I take that. After everything, ninety percent is an extraordinary gift.
I had spent years working in jobs that were never aligned with who I was or what I believed in. Erina understood that. So when these therapies were simply not accessible to people in Scotland, because no one had brought them together, we both knew what had to be done.
We built Nour Wellness Hub together. Not as a business opportunity. As a purpose. The treatments that brought me back are now available to anyone in Stirling. No travelling down south. No long waiting lists.
These treatments saved my life. Erina saved my life. Now we want to give back. That is why Nour exists. That is why we both show up every day.
I am Aldo. Erina is my partner in life and in this. Nour Wellness Hub, Stirling.