Jaya Fernando: Indie launches £4,500 community appeal to pay for the funeral of Bishop’s Stortford family man and cricket fanatic

The funeral of Bishop’s Stortford family man and cricket fanatic Jaya Fernando will be held at St Joseph’s Catholic Church on Monday (September 30) – and the Indie has launched an online appeal rallying the community to help his devastated family to cover the cost.

Donate to the Indie Appeal for Jaya Fernando’s Funeral by clicking here.

The 56-year-old married father of three was playing his first match for Bishop’s Stortford this summer when he was taken ill at the club’s Cricketfield Lane ground on Sunday September 1.

Sri Lankan-born Jaya died in hospital 12 days later – three days after marking his 21st wedding anniversary with wife Maria with a kiss from his hospital bed in a specialist cardiac unit at Basildon.

His last contact with his 14-year-old son, Krishan, was a thumbs-up in A&E at Harlow’s Princess Alexandra Hospital on the day he fell ill after Krishan had excitedly messaged his dad to say he had scored a half-century.

And Jaya never got to see his daughter Amaya, 11, in her new school uniform as she started at Hockerill Anglo-European College.

One of Jaya’s two younger sisters, Priya, flew from Canada to be by his side, having not seen him for five years. But his other sister, Prashanthi, never arrived in time from Australia and his parents, both in their 80s, were unable to fly from Sri Lanka.

The family – completed by youngest child Sachin, 7, who is in Year 3 at Thorn Grove Primary – live in a townhouse in Cavell Drive, near Herts and Essex Hospital.

But Maria faces having to sell their home as self-employed Jaya, who worked in security at Stansted Airport and as a cricket coach, had no life insurance – and it was only his name on the mortgage.

The Indie has set up a gofundme.com appeal to cover the £4,500 cost of the funeral, which is being conducted by Hockerill funeral director Barringtons.

Separately, Maria’s friend Sarah Tilstone has set up an online appeal at gofundme.com to muster financial support for the family through the difficult early weeks and months. So far it has raised almost £12,500.

Jaya did not smoke, barely drank, had never been overweight and was really active, so his death was totally unexpected.

On Saturday August 31, the day before he fell ill, the family had been at Lords to watch Jaya’s beloved Sri Lanka play England on the third day of the second Test. There was no sign that anything was wrong.

On the Sunday he had just finished batting for Stortford in their match against Farnham when he came over unwell. Maria got the call when she was in Waitrose.

“They called for an ambulance, but that was going to take 40 minutes,” she said. “They couldn’t get to the defibrillator at the club and so ended up taking him by car to Harlow hospital.

“He’d had a heart attack, but it had caused heart failure. His heart was only functioning at 5% and he was transferred that day to Basildon, where he had two stents fitted. But they soon realised it was more complicated and he was put into an induced coma the next day.”

Jaya came out of the coma and was asking about Amaya starting school. On the Wednesday (Sept 10), doctors discovered he had suffered a stroke.

“He was going in the wrong direction and on the Friday suffered a cardiac arrest. They managed to bring him back and I got there just in time to be with him as he passed,” said Maria. “The worst bit was telling the children – it was awful.”

Jaya’s passing has shocked the local cricketing community. He played predominantly for Stortford, where he also coached youngsters, and occasionally for Stansted Hall & Elsenham and for Sawbridgeworth. He was also a coach at the indoor Herts & Essex Cricket Centre in High Wych.

The funeral at St Joseph’s in Windhill on Monday starts at noon. Maria said that it was “an open invite for everyone to come”.

Jaya’s coffin will be carried into the church by friends from his old school, St Benedict’s Catholic College in Colchester. They will sing the college anthem as he is carried out.

Bishop’s Stortford Cricket Club is opening its doors from 1pm for anyone who wishes to raise a glass to Jaya.

To contribute to the Indie’s funeral appeal for Jaya, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/indie-appeal-for-jaya-fernandos-funeral?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=customer&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_ft&attribution_id=sl:e647f529-d782-4a2e-b16e-95caa5da5372. To contribute to Sarah Tilstone’s appeal for the family, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/jaya-fernando.