‘This virus is very real’: Jamie O’Hara reveals his beloved dad Paul has been rushed to hospital and placed on a ventilator amid COVID-19 battle
Jamie O’Hara has revealed that his dad Paul has been rushed to hospital and placed on a ventilator amid his battle with the novel coronavirus.
The footballer-turned-pundit, 34, took to Twitter on Thursday night to make the revelation, as he also shared that his ailing parent has an underlying heart condition.
He wrote: ‘Nothing is more important than family, had a massive scare today with my dad who’s been suffering from COVID and has heart problems, and is now in hospital on a ventilator, this virus is very real and is a killer I’ve never seen my dad so ill, please be careful #COVID.’
Hospitalised: Jamie O’Hara has revealed that his dad Paul has been rushed to hospital and placed on a ventilator amid his battle with the novel coronavirus
He added: ‘Want to thank the amazingly quick response and help from 999 and first responders, who got to the house extremely fast and helped my dad plus helped calm me down on the phone when panicking, there under a lot of stress right now from speaking to them @Ldn_Ambulance xx.’
Jamie is known to have a close relationship with his dad, after losing his 46-year-old mother Anne to cancer 16 years ago, when he was aged just 17.
In June, the sportsman took to Instagram to a series of snaps of himself with his dad on their travels to a variety of sunny destinations as he marked Father’s Day.
He wrote: ‘Happy Father’s Day to the best man I know, been lucky enough to travel the world and try to experience everything Together with my dad, from West Hollywood to blue marlin Ibiza and even yachts in Dubai your my best friend my inspiration and the one person I trust my life with, love you Dad @paulohara57.’
The following month, once lockdown travel restrictions had eased, Jamie even treated his father to a trip to Ibiza, where they enjoyed the hotspots.
Sharing snaps of the pair together in the sunshine, Jamie wrote: ‘Laughs and love with my dad all over the world, always try to experience all the great things I’ve been lucky to do with my dad, Touched down in Ibiza sipping on a nice cocktail with my family, doesn’t get better than this ❤️’
On December 26, Jamie shared a snapshot of his parents together on what would have been his late mother’s birthday as he paid tribute to her.
He wrote: ‘Today would be my Mums birthday, we lost her at 46 years of age, there’s not a day go by where I don’t think about her beautiful face, always feel her around me and her presence keeps me pushing forward on this journey. Miss you mum xx happy birthday xx.’
Following his stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2017, Jamie revealed that the loss of his mother ignited a long battle with depression.
Writing on Twitter about his struggles during Mental Health Week, he stated: ‘I really struggled with depression for a number of years.
‘I lost my mum at 17 and I never really dealt with the death until years later because I was so driven on becoming a professional footballer that I put it behind me.
‘It affected every part of my life I would drink to much I would sleep all the time and I never interacted with anyone, I pushed everything away.’
Jamie shares three sons with his ex-wife Danielle Lloyd, to whom he was married for two years until 2014.
