Veda Krishnamurthy recalls horrific COVID family tragedy, talks about mental health
Indian woman cricketer Veda Krishnamurthy is one of the finest cricketers. However, she recently went through severe family trauma, losing her sister and mother to COVID-19, as the events left her mentally disturbed and shattered.
FollowVeda Krishnamurthy is one of the Indian cricketers whose family was affected by COVID-19. The 28-year-old batsman lost her mother and sister to the same in a few weeks, as the incidents left her mentally disturbed.
A total of nine of her family members battled the disease, leading to her having mental trauma. Recently, she recalled the incidents and spoke on how it affected her mentally, besides asserting that mental health is of utmost importance for any individual.
"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. .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," she was quoted as saying to ESPNCricinfo.
"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 added.
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Veda also admitted that she was a victim of mental health issues and had battled the same in the past, including the recent family COVID events. She asserted that while every cricketer needs mental heal assistance, she too sought to work upon it herself.
"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 concluded.
Besides Veda, veteran Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, too, went through a similar COVID family struggle. As a result, he had to take a mid-season break from the now-postponed Indian Premier League 2021 while playing for Delhi Capitals.
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