Thousands raised for Sierra Leone athlete found living rough in London

Sierra Leone’s top sprinter is sleeping rough in London because he was afraid to return to his Ebola-hit homeland after last year’s Commonwealth Games in Scotland, the Guardian newspaper reported Saturday. Jimmy Thoronka, 20, went missing after July’s event in Glasgow but has now been tracked down in an emaciated state sleeping on buses and in parks in the British capital. The Guardian reported that he was arrested Friday for overstaying his visa and was being held by police.

I can’t go back to Sierra Leone because my whole family has been wiped out and I can’t make it alone. Nobody is doing athletics there now. Ebola has destroyed so much. But I can’t survive here either if I continue living like this. I don’t know what I am going to do.

Jimmy Thoronka, 20, Sierra Leoni sprinter

Before his reported arrest, Thoronka told the newspaper that his uncle had died, probably of Ebola, during the Commonwealth Games, followed by his mother and three adopted sisters later on. An online campaign to raise funds for Thoronka set up after the news broke has already raised nearly £9,000 (12,000 euros, $13,500). Scotland Yard and the Home Office said they could not comment on the case.

Thoronka Sports