ALEX McCARTHY understands how silently coronavirus can infiltrate a family — having seen it in his own household.
The Southampton keeper’s mother-in-law lives with him, his wife, Rachel, two-year-old daughter Baylie and one-year-old son, Lake, at their Guildford home.
Helen, 61, developed all the standard symptoms for Covid-19 during the first week of lockdown, including losing her senses of smell and taste.
She was laid low for a fortnight, with her relatives leaving meals outside her door to adhere to self-isolation guidelines and is thankfully fine now.
But the family had no idea how she contracted the virus, underlining why some players are reluctant to rush back to playing for fear of putting their loved ones at risk.
McCarthy, who has one cap for England, said: “We’re pretty sure she had it, though she wasn’t tested.
“She was in bed for two weeks and I had never seen her spend a day in bed before then.
“She had a really high temperature and couldn’t get it down. She was constantly coughing.
“My other half was making her food whenever she wanted it. We were leaving it outside her door. It was weird. The kids wanted to see her but couldn’t so it was hard for them. Thankfully she’s over it.
No one wants their dad to have an accident but it meant he could be a lot more involved in me growing up. He enabled me to get where I am now. His accident put things into perspective.”
Alex McCarthy
“We have no idea where she got it. The club doc said maybe it was the kids but they didn’t have any symptoms. It was a strange one.”
None of the rest of the family displayed symptoms so McCarthy has been training in his back garden as best he can.
He has also been having online group sessions and chats with Saints’ other stoppers and goalkeeping coach Andrew Sparkes.
And he has had Baylie eagerly putting him through his paces by pressing the button on the high-tech ball-launcher the club sent him to practise shot-stopping.
Speaking to SunSport via Zoom, McCarthy added: “Our individual programmes have been really effective but, being a goalkeeper, you want that contact with the ball.
“I would say her serving is a little bit more consistent than Sparkesy’s! Baylie’s loved every minute of it. She wants to do it every day and would stay out there all day flinging balls at me if she could.”
The pandemic is causing everyone to be more anxious over health and what the future may hold.
McCarthy is obviously concerned but has a useful habit of being able to remain calm and keep things in perspective.
That trait was developed at the age of seven, when his father, Martin, suffered a terrible accident.
Martin was working as an engineer in Luxembourg when he was knocked off his bicycle by a drunk driver.
He broke his back, almost died of hypothermia and had to learn to walk again.
Martin recovered but had to change career to be closer to home — which meant he played a much more active role in his son’s path to professional football.
The Chelsea fan, who used to show his son videos of the late Peter Bonetti, would ferry McCarthy across the country for training sessions — not just for football, but cricket and golf, too.
Martin also encouraged McCarthy to take up some business interests on the side to have something to fall back on.
McCarthy has heeded his old man’s advice and is involved in an insurance company and a jeweller’s for bespoke rings and watches.
Seeing how his own businesses have been affected by coronavirus helped him sympathise with Southampton’s current financial challenges.
McCarthy was one of the senior pros who was influential in the Saints squad accepting a three-month deferral for ten per cent of their wages.
The ex-Crystal Palace keeper, 30, said: “No one wants their dad to have an accident but it meant he changed his line of work and he could be a lot more involved in me growing up.
“He enabled me to get where I am now. His accident put things into perspective.
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“I’m a footballer and I want to be playing football but there are more important things in life. Health and safety come first.”
That mantra sums up how McCarthy feels about Project Restart.
As soon as the medical experts give the green light, he is ready to play and maintains the season needs to be finished.
Playing behind closed doors will be a novel experience for the former Reading ace, who has some advice for his fellow goalkeepers — usually the loudest players on the pitch.
McCarthy, cryptically nicknamed ‘Bobby’ in the Saints dressing room, said: “Being behind closed doors, you’ll be hearing the goalkeepers a lot. We’ll have to mind our language!
“We’ve all played in reserve games but I’ve never played in a game behind closed doors.
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“It would definitely be strange. You’re used to going into stadiums and hearing the atmosphere. It will be different — but if it means we can get back playing, that will be positive.”
A return to action is something McCarthy cannot wait to see in his other passion of Formula One either.
He is mates with former McLaren racing director Eric Bouiller, who has previously invited him to both the Monaco and Montreal grands prix.
McCarthy has enjoyed Formula E’s virtual races during lockdown but insists it is no substitute for the real thing.
He added: “The virtual races have been interesting, with Ben Stokes doing it with a few of the other drivers.
“It’s nice to watch while all this is going on but it doesn’t compare to the real thing in front of thousands of people. There’s always that little bit more of a buzz and thrill about it. You can’t beat that.”
The same can be said for football.
But with this virus such a stealthy assailant — as McCarthy’s mother-in-law knows only too well — the best we can hope for are crowdless matches when it is safe enough to show them.
