News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. April 17, 2020: A Caribbean-born former England fast bowler is in mourning after losing his father to the coronavirus.
Kingston, Jamaican-born, Devon Malcolm lost his dad Albert Malcolm, who was also born in Jamaica, on April 4, 2020 to the virus. The senior Malcolm was moved to a private care home near his home in Sheffield earlier this year after suffering a mini stroke but contracted the virus while on the road to recovery and died in hospital just a few days later.
“It’s so sad, we lost him in a few days,” Malcolm told BBC Radio Five Live. “It’s so difficult when a loved one is admitted to hospital and you are told you can’t visit; you can’t be there for them.”
Albert Malcolm migrated to England as a young man from Jamaica and was joined in Sheffield by Devon when he was a teenager before he developed via Derbyshire into one of the fastest and most well-liked bowlers in the world.
He made his test debut for England in 1989 and went on to take 128 wickets in 40 Tests with a stunning best of nine for 57 against South Africa at The Oval in 1994. His last test was in August 1997 versus Australia. He played in 40 Test matches for his adopted country, but took part in just ten One Day Internationals.
Malcolm his now calling for greater support for care home workers after the sudden death of his father from coronavirus.
The former England fast bowler wants testing kits and protective equipment to be made available to carers to stop more people going through the devastating loss suffered by his family after his dad became a victim of the pandemic.
“They haven’t got any protective equipment,” Malcolm told Sportsmail. “They don’t know who’s got the stuff and they don’t do testing. So, I’m not surprised at the numbers coming out of these care homes now and the tragic thing is there will be a hell of a lot more. These are the most vulnerable people in society and have to be looked after.”
