Ian O’Brien stranded in New Zealand amidst Covid-19 pandemic
Former New Zealand cricketer Ian O’Brien has been the latest to be affected by the coronavirus as he is struggling to find a flight to his UK home, to be with his family. O’Brien has also spoken about his struggles with mental health, the reason why he visited New Zealand in the first place.
Ian O’Brien, who played 22 Tests, 10 ODIs and four T20s for New Zealand between 2005-2009, had visited New Zealand after five years. The 43-year-old Wellington-born cricketer, moved from New Zealand half a decade ago and lives with his wife Rosie and two kids - Alethea and Zain - in the UK.Â
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, that has so far claimed more than 16,000 lives globally, countries had to shut down borders and enter a mode of lockdown mode. Amongst thousands of stranded tourists, O’Brien also had his flight cancelled. He was supposed to fly from Wellington to UK on Tuesday. The former cricketer was in New Zealand to deal with some mental health issues that he has been working on. He is now worried about his family and his wife’s health.Â
“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. This virus could kill her. I want to get back, get through that two weeks (self-isolation), and then start helping out,” was quoted as saying by the stuff.co.nz.
“I genuinely needed it [to visit New Zealand] 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.”