Indian women’s cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy has been going through a tough phase where she lost her mother and sister to COVID-19 recently. And, after losing her close family members she was “completely destroyed”. However, she is slowly learning to get back in the zone and trying to get out of that grief and stressed situations well.
It is also noteworthy that, nine members of her family battled the deadly virus and her mother and sister passed away within two weeks of each other in Karnataka as well whereas others have recovered now.
“I’m a big believer in what destiny holds for you, but I really hoped that my sister would come back home. When she didn’t, I was completely destroyed. All of us were broken to pieces,” Krishnamurthy told ESPNcricinfo. “…I still had to put up a brave face for the rest of the family. What I had to do in those testing couple of weeks was learn to tune myself out of my grief. But it keeps coming back to haunt you.”
The veteran middle-order batter has also said that she was the only one in the family who didn’t contract with the virus and she was the one who was coordinating all the medical needs in the family at that time. And, she realised like her, many people are struggling to get basic care as well.
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“Going through my Twitter feed at the time, I felt a lot of people were struggling with something as basic as getting a doctor to instruct them on what they should be doing – whether that was isolating at home or something else,” Veda Krishnamurthy recalled.
While speaking about the mental aspect of dealing with such a situation, Krishnamurthy said that her mother and sister also suffered from anxiety while battling the COVID-19.
“Mental strength is important. My oldest sister, Vatsala, had panic attacks before she passed away from COVID. My mom might also have panicked, because the night before she died of the virus, in my home town, Kadur, about 230km north-west of Bangalore, she learned that everybody else in the family had tested positive, including the kids. I don’t know, but maybe that affected her,” she again shared.
Krishnamurthy also revealed that she has dealt with mental health issues herself in the past and asked for a support system for those who are in need of that as well.
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“A lot of people who are playing cricket currently know what mental health is, but it is also important to accept that if the system is not doing anything to offer you mental-health assistance, you can and must find the support for yourself if you can afford it. I’ve had mental-health issues and I’ve sought support to resolve them myself,” she added.
“I’m not upset with people who didn’t call me or message me. I thank everyone who checked on me. I did get a call from the BCCI secretary, which I didn’t expect, to be honest. He said when he is in Bangalore, he will visit me,” Veda Krishnamurthy concluded.
