COVID-19 : O’Brien fearing for wife Rosie’s health
NEW DELHI : Struggling to find a flight to get back to his family in the UK, former New Zealand pacer Iain O’Brien says he is worried about his wife’s health as she has a lung condition, which puts her at great risk in the rapidly-spreading COVID-19 pandemic.
The 43-year-old from Wellington, who now lives with his wife Rosie and two kids — Alethea and Zain — in the UK, was in New Zealand to deal with some mental health issues that he has been working on.
“The big bit for me is my wife has a lung condition where if she gets any sort of chest infection it can take time off her life,” O”Brien, who played 22 Tests, 10 ODIs and four T20s for New Zealand between 2005-2009, was quoted as saying by the stuff.co.nz.
“This virus could kill her. With a couple of kids for her to deal with, and her mum is 80, there’s a fair bit on her plate at the moment. I would be kind of keen to take some of that stress off her but I think I’m just adding to it at the moment.”
O’Brien has spent hours and a lot of money to find a viable route back home, but without any success. On Tuesday, his flight from Wellington to UK was once again cancelled.
He, however, knows there are others who share the same plight.”I’m lucky I’ve been able to buy three flights to try get back, even though none of them have worked out. At least I could do that,” said
O’Brien, now 43, and living in the UK along with wife Rosie and children Alethea, 9, and Zain, 7, has found himself stranded in New Zealand by the coronavirus pandemic and facing growing fears about the health of his wife amid the escalating situation worldwide.
He also has grave concerns about the way his fellow New Zealanders are dealing with the COVID-19 situation and warns that they need to change their social habits immediately lest this thing get out of hand.
The Wellingtonian, who played 22 tests, 10 ODIs and four T20s for the Black Caps between 2005-2009, was on Tuesday scrambling to find flights back to the UK after he saw his latest booking cancelled at the last minute. He had spent hours, and a lot of money, already trying to find a viable route home but as of Tuesday afternoon had been unsuccessful.
“It’s going to make stuff really tight, but I can’t complain. There are people in tougher situations than this. It’s just my wife that’s the worry. I want to get back, get through that two weeks (self-isolation), and then start helping out.”
It was his first visit to New Zealand in five years when midway through the trip, the coronavirus pandemic turned everything upside down.”I genuinely needed it for my soul. I’ve been going through some pretty tough mental health stuff for the last 6-7 months, and this was part of trying to deal with that.
“I’m fine. There were a couple of tears last night and a few more outside the airport this morning. It’s not undoing the goodness that this trip has been, but it’s not the finish I wanted. I didn’t get to see my brother (Blair) who I haven’t seen for five years.
“But I’ll get home and everything will be all right. I’ll just have to come back again soon.”(Agency Report with pti inputs).
