Leading Sierra Leone sprinter found living rough on London streets
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ByEurosport
Updated 06/03/2015 at 14:44 GMT
A leading Sierra Leone sprinter, who went missing after the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, has been found living rough in London, afraid to return home because of the Ebola virus.
An athlete from Sierra Leone (L) carries his national flag (AFP)
Image credit: AFP
Jimmy Thoronka, 20, headed to Scotland last summer as his country’s top athlete over 100 metres but his preparations were derailed by the news that his uncle had died.
He competed in the 4x100m relay as his country bowed out in the heats.
Faced with a decision to return home to a country being consumed by an epidemic or risk staying in the United Kingdom with an expired visa, Thoronka opted for the latter.
“I was very excited to be coming to the Games in Glasgow,” he told the Guardian.
“I was hoping to win a medal for my country. But during the Games I got the terrible news that my uncle had died, probably from Ebola. I couldn’t stop crying. It was difficult to continue with competing but I tried to carry on.”
Now thin and malnourished, Thoronka washes his clothes in public toilets before leaving them to dry in parks. He occasionally sleeps on night buses while begging for money to buy food.
“I wanted to go to London for a while after the Games but my bag with my money and passport in it was stolen at Glasgow station,” he said.
“I was scared to go to the police in case they arrested me and put me in a cell so I begged someone at the station to pay my fare to London and they agreed to do that.”
After finding shelter initially with an acquaintance in Leicester, he learned via African TV that his mother had also died of Ebola.
The virus has now killed nearly 10,000 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea during a year-long epidemic. It is still widespread in Thoronka's home country.
"We have a cold season in Sierra Leone but it is not cold like England," he added.
"Some days I don't think I'm going to make it and just feel like killing myself.
"My dream is to become one of the best sprinters in the world but I don't see how that can happen now...
"I'm very frightened of what will happen to me. Life here is very bad for me but if I return to Sierra Leone I don't think I will make it."
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