Twelve months ago, Corrimal ballet dancer Riley Lapham was on top of the world. She was flying high as one of the Australian Ballet’s leading dancers, having just been named as one of five nominees for the Telstra Ballet Dancer of the Year Award.

And then, without any warning, Riley’s world changed dramatically when COVID struck… and it stuck. Nearly a year later, Riley continues to fight the scourge of Long COVID, which has brought her dance career and dreams to a halt.

In the hope her experience will help others suffering from Long COVID, Riley has agreed to share her personal story and her struggle to regain the strength to return again to the place she loves most in the world; on the stage with her colleagues from the Australian Ballet.

Where it all began

First, let’s pirouette to where it all began. Riley started dancing at the Beverley Rowles School of Dance in Corrimal, aged just six.

“I loved it immediately and spent my afternoons after school twirling and waving a scarf around. It lit up my soul like nothing else," Riley said. "Little did I know at the time that I’d found my career at the ripe age of six.”

After many hours and years of hard work and practice, Riley’s long-time dream came true when she became one of the elite few offered a place at the Australian Ballet School (ABS), aged 14. She and her dad moved to Melbourne – leaving her mother and brother in Wollongong – and it soon became very clear that Riley’s future was in dance.

During her training at the ABS, Riley was the sole woman recipient of the annual Award for Excellence for every year of her schooling except for a year in which she suffered a serious ankle injury. In 2015, aged 15, she was the sole dancer selected by the ABS to represent the School at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland where she was a finalist.

Promoted to lead dancer

After four gruelling years of full-time ballet training, 19-year-old Riley was recruited to the Australian Ballet and ultimately promoted from Corps de Ballet to Coryphee (a lead dancer) at age 21.

Riley’s career continued to blossom. She performed countless times at the Sydney Opera House and travelled all around Australia as performances were scheduled when the COVID restrictions were gradually eased in 2022. The future was looking very bright.

In April last year, Riley contracted COVID for the fourth time but this time it was very different.

“I got sick and stayed sick, and nearly 12 months later I’m still unable to work," Riley said. "In the early stages it was like any other nasty virus; fatigue, sinusitis, swollen glands, cough, headaches, and lots of aches and pains."

Looking for answers

“Instead of a week of symptoms, it was six months. I was bounced around from specialist to specialist trying to get some answers, with all tests coming back clear.

“After myriad courses of antibiotics, steroids, puffers and nose sprays, I found a GP who was a little more educated in this area of medicine, and from that point on I felt I was in good hands. I was diagnosed with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome) and was placed on a four-month waitlist to see Clinic 19, the leading Long COVD clinic in Australia.

“It was around this time that I began to understand the shape and time frame of this illness. I realised I wouldn’t be at full health again anytime soon, and what was now required was radical acceptance. This was, and is, obviously easier said than done, but I realised that being in a constant state of constant resistance wasn’t conducive to healing.”

Light at the end of the tunnel

It’s been a long, frustrating battle for Riley but she’s finally seeing a light at the end of her Long COVID tunnel.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement. Where I was completely bed bound for months, I can now spend most days up and about on my feet, for which I’m beyond grateful. However, pacing myself is very important as a recovery strategy, and I have to rest pre-emptively to avoid a crash, and bookend any activity with intentional rest,” Riley said.

“I’ve been able to add in some gentle horizontal pilates and can now see friends occasionally. These two things, along with regaining my independence and ability to grocery shop etc, have been game-changers for my mental health.

“It’s extremely difficult to practise acceptance and be at peace when you’re so sick and dependent on a carer and seeing no improvement for months on end.”

Fighting the illness for the past year has required a total change in Riley’s mindset. From her earliest years as a ballet dancer, she was told effort equals improvement.

"Whereas with chronic illness the opposite is true,” Riley said.

“You cannot goal-set your way out of Long COVID. You can’t think that working extra hard at ‘getting better’ will lead to a recovery. Relinquishing control is the only way, and boy is that hard as a professional ballet dancer. That isn’t to say lose all hope and don’t pursue treatment options, it’s just knowing what is within your control and what’s not.”

A mother’s pride

Riley’s mother, Maxine, is extremely proud of her daughter’s courage in fighting to recover from the debilitating illness.

“Her strength, tenacity and resilience have reached new levels in the face of this career-threatening chronic illness," Maxine said. "Her complete and utter love for ballet continues to burn as bright as ever, awaiting her return to the stage.” 

Riley is realistic but hopeful about her ballet future.

“As far as getting back to dancing, it’s impossible to know when that will happen,” she said. “There were countless times (and still are sometimes) where I felt my career was over, and because Long COVID specifically is very recent, there are little or no athlete recovery stories that I can use as some reassurance."

‘I need to be ready’

“The level of health and fitness my job requires is extremely high, so when considering what will be demanded of my body, I need to be sure it’s ready.

“In the meantime, I’m finding joy in the small things, letting my body rest and heal, and I’m quietly excited for the day I return to the studio and stage; however long that takes.”

In recognition of Riley’s success with the Australian Ballet and to encourage her recovery from Long COVID, Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery announced her as the winner of a special Lord Mayor’s Award at the 2024 Wollongong Citizen of the Year Awards.