The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Ex-Dunfermline boss takes charge of Ireland.
Former Dunfermline midfielder Kallum Higginbotham has been caught in a coronavirus “living hell” in India, writes Ian
Roache.
Higginbotham, who made 113 appearances and scored 19 goals for the Pars before leaving last summer, is under curfew thousands of miles from home after joining Real Kashmir, the side managed by former Aberdeen, Rangers and Scotland defender David Robertson.
The 30-year-old Englishman is stuck in a hotel in Srinagar that has an armed guard posted outside. Even without the virus to deal with, Kashmir was already one of the most troubled regions in the world.
Higginbotham’s wife and children are back in Edinburgh and he does not know long it will be before he will see them again because of the pandemic. He said: “It’s a living hell. “Some mornings I don’t get up for breakfast as it only makes the days longer.
“The highlight of our day is leaving the room to go downstairs for tea and biscuits at 5pm.
“I don’t care who you are, as a footballer, it’s horrendous to have to deal with these sort of things. I have to be honest, it’s really affecting me mentally.
“My daughter Mia is seven years old and my wee boy Alfie is two. My wife Nicole has been holding fort and trying to keep up my spirits.
“Not knowing what the end game is, or where the finishing line is, has been the hardest aspect of this whole crisis.
“If we had a date that we knew we were flying home on then it would make it so much bearable and you could set your mind on that. Mentally, it’s the unknown and the uncertainty that are the worst parts.
“It is difficult. Being a dad, I should have been home, protecting my children during the crisis, but I am stuck halfway across the world.
“As a man you do not show emotions but, when you speak to your family at this time, it gets hard.
“I have just got to be strong and the time will come when we will be home.
“Every minute feels like an hour and days are like weeks.”
Higginbotham has been trying to find help to return to the United Kingdom but it has been a challenge, helped by manager Robertson and his wife, who are also stuck in India.
Higginbotham said: “The gaffer and his wife Kym have been brilliant in dealing with the British Embassy and trying to find a way to get us home.
“I wouldn’t know where to start so I take my hat off to them for making sure the entire group is looked after.
“How many people around the world are stuck in our situation?
“We are in such a remote part of India and there’s only one road that connects us with the rest of the country.
“Not that it matters as the road is closed and all the flights are cancelled.
“There’s a lockdown until at least April 15. We all have to stay indoors but there are only nine foreigners left in the hotel.
“India is going to open up again after the 15th and they say there will be flights out of the country once that happens,” added the ex-Par.
“The British government has allocated £79 million to get people out of these situations in a repatriation exercise so we will wait and see if that is carried through.
“There’s only nine of us left in the hotel – four Africans, the gaffer and his wife Kym and son Mason, coaches Jimmy Lindsay and Jonathan Craig and myself.
“We had to wait until the league decided what it was going to do and then the government announced India was shutting down for 21 days.
“So we had no time to get to an airport for a flight back home.”