Cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy stresses on importance of mental health assistance
(Sourced from PTI)
Completely devastated after losing her mother and sister to COVID-19 recently, Indian cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy says she is slowly learning to tune herself out of that grief. She stressed the importance of mental health assistance in situations of crisis. Nine members of Krishnamurthy's family battled the disease and her mother and sister passed away within two weeks of each other last month in Karnataka.
The middle-order batter said that she was the only one in the family not to contract the virus and ended up coordinating all the medical needs at that time. It was then that she realized how difficult it was for several people to access basic care. "Going through my Twitter feed at the time, I felt a lot of people were struggling," Krishnamurthy recalled.
Speaking about the mental aspect of dealing with a health crisis, Krishnamurthy said her mother and sister also suffered from anxiety while battling the illness. "My sister, Vatsala, had panic attacks before she passed away from COVID-19," the 28-year-old said. "My mom might also have panicked, because the night before she died, she learned that everybody in the family had tested positive," she said.
Krishnamurthy revealed that she has also dealt with mental health issues in the past and called for a structured support system for those in need. "Many 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 about it, you must find the support yourself," she said.
Krishnamurthy, who has played 48 ODIs and 76 T20 Internationals, was excluded from the Indian squad for this month's tour of England, where the team is scheduled to play one Test, three ODIs, and as many Twenty20 matches. The BCCI had drawn flak for not keeping in touch with the bereaved player after which Krishnamurthy received a phone call from Board Secretary Jay Shah.
Two other Indian cricket players also lost their loved ones during the second wave of COVID-19. On May 10, India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla lost his 60-year-old father to COVID-19, while IPL player, Chetan Sakariya, lost his father on May 9.
