Barking cricket club coach Kanan Thiyagarajah is urging people to stay home and follow the government guidelines after he suffered with Covid-19.

Thiyragarajah has volunteered at the Mayesbrook Park club for a number of years and more recently joined Barking & Dagenham College where in his first year he was named Essex County Coach of the Year by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Coaches Association.

“A message for people - please stay home, if you can. It’s important for us to follow the guidelines to keep each other safe,” Thiyaragariah said.

“This virus isn’t a joke and with the new strain it’s becoming more dangerous than ever.

“Thousands of people are dying and any one of them can be your family or friends and it’s painful to think about I know, but to save them and yourself this is the only thing we can do right now. Stay safe.”

The coach revealed his experiences with the virus have affected him and his family as well. Both he and his wife had to go into hospital.

“Having Covid-19 was hell. I have asthma and it affected me massively. I had to be taken to hospital because I just couldn’t breathe - but I was expecting it with my condition when I tested positive.

“What I didn’t expect was my wife, who does not have any underlying health conditions, to be affected as badly as me and to be taken to hospital and put in the same ward as I was.

“It was terrifying being in hospital with my wife, and my three kids home alone.

“We used up all our strength and went on day by day not knowing if we were going to make it. But we kept strong, we kept pushing and with all the help from the amazing NHS doctors and nurses we were able to get through the worst part and make a recovery.

“Of course we are not 100 per cent recovered and it will take time for us to get back to normal but we are happy to be home with our kids, building back our strength and slowly recovering from what we thought was the scariest experience in our whole lives.

“We are also so lucky to have amazing neighbours, friends and family who helped us through it, whether it’s buying groceries for the kids or checking up on us and sending us well wishes and prayers."