When Rebecca Lewkowicz’s 10-year-old son, Ethan, first tested positive for COVID-19, the Toronto-based mom of two thought little of it — the boy had only minor symptoms, which went away in a matter of days.

She had little reason to suspect the mild infection in April 2022 would soon derail Ethan’s life trajectory and her plans for his future. Nor did she anticipate she would spend more than a year fighting for her son’s illness to be taken seriously.

“We were lucky because it only took us 13 months to be believed,” Lewkowicz told the Star. ”People (living with long COVID) go two, three, four years without being believed, and children even longer.”

Ethan’s struggle is an all-too-common reality for children living with long COVID, physicians tell the Star — a constellation of more than 200 potential symptoms that can linger for years. Children of all ages can develop long COVID, with symptoms ranging from fatigue and brain fog to pain across various body parts and organ systems.