England captain Heather Knight joins NHS as volunteer to fight COVID-19 pandemic

PTI, Mar 29, 2020, 1:02 PM IST

London: England women’s cricket team captain Heather Knight has joined the National Health Service (NHS) as volunteer to help the healthcare system fight the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

The 29-year-old Knight who has played 7 Tests, 101 ODIs and 74 T20Is for England will help in transporting medicines and spreading awareness about the pandemic in the United Kingdom that have reported at least 14543 cases of the novel coronavirus.

“I signed up to the NHS’ volunteer scheme as I have a lot of free time on my hands and I want to help as much as I can,” Knight wrote in her column for BBC.

Knight, who returned from Australia after leading England to the semi-finals of the Women’s T20 World Cup recently, is now living under the UK’s lockdown rules.

“My brother and his partner are doctors, and I have a few friends who work in the NHS, so I know how hard they are working and how difficult it is for everyone,” she said.

Besides helping transport medicines, Knight will also speak to people about the importance of self-isolation under the current circumstances.

“One of my close friends, Elin, works on the ward at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital,” Knight wrote.

“She is having to make tough decisions, so we are trying to keep her positive. Our university friendship group have been sending her throwback songs of the day to try and give her a moment to be happy and relax,” she added.

More than half a million people signed up when the volunteer programme was announced on Wednesday.