Just over four weeks ago, the lives of former Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere and his family were turned upside down by the devastating effects of the coronavirus.
More than 33,000 people have lost their lives in the United Kingdom to Covid-19 and one of those victims was Aliadiere's mother-in-law, Lynette, 72.
She caught the virus during a short stay in hospital, where she was being treated for an infection shortly after finishing a round of chemotherapy.
Despite fighting hard for two weeks, it was a battle she could not win, leaving daughter Zoe, son-in-law Jeremie and the whole family devastated.
They are still struggling to come to terms with their loss and for Aliadiere - an Arsenal player between 1999 and 2007 - it makes discussions over football potentially restarting next month all the more difficult to comprehend.
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“I just feel that if people were to go through what we’ve been through and lost a really close loved one, then they wouldn’t really be thinking about going back to play football,” the former Gunners striker told Goal.
“I can understand the money side of it and all that comes with it for the clubs, but I think life is more important than anything else. I just can’t understand how they are going to be able to play again.
“The most important thing for me is saving people's lives and I don’t think we are there yet. We might have passed the peak, but we’re still losing a massive amount of people every day. The virus is still there, it’s not gone.
“I would rather wait another two months than go back too quick. In my view, we shouldn’t take risks.
“Having lost a loved one, I just can’t even get my head around football starting again when there are still hundreds of people dying a day and so many still being infected with the virus.”
Aliadiere added: “I can’t begin to tell you just how tough it’s been. It's been devastating and the hardest thing is normally when you lose somebody you can all grieve together as a family. But we haven’t been able to do that.
“We haven’t even been able to see the rest of the family. So even though it has happened, it almost doesn’t feel real at times. It’s been so difficult for everyone to try and deal with.”
To make matters even worse for the family, it wasn’t just Aliadiere’s mother-in-law who caught the virus - his father-in-law Mike did as well.
He was infected while trying to care for his wife at their home before she died and soon found himself in hospital battling for his own life.
“He was 50/50,” Aliadiere explained. “He was in hospital for more than two weeks with the oxygen mask and everything. He was really close to going, but thankfully he pulled through.
“But as you can imagine, he’d lost his wife, caught the virus himself and now he’s back home planning her funeral. How do you get over that?
“It’s just so tough and I can’t imagine being in his position. The worst thing about it is we can’t really help him through it at the moment.
“Usually, when these things happen you are able to support the person, to have the family together and to grieve together, but in this case we can’t do that.
“We can’t see each other. Everything is being done through FaceTime and messages. It’s crazy.”
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Lynette’s funeral will take place on Monday in London, but given the strict guidelines surrounding social distancing and large gatherings, only 15 people are able to attend.
Aliadiere’s wife will be there, but he and his two children will have to watch it via an internet stream at their home.
“It has to be my wife on her own,” said the Frenchman, who joined Arsenal as a 16-year-old.
“And the really sad thing is it’s not going to be a usual funeral where she can go and cuddle her dad. She won’t even be able to comfort him because she has to stay two metres away.
“It’s a horrible situation for everyone. This virus is so serious and it’s having such an impact on so many people.”
Aliadiere added: “When it all started coming out in China we didn’t take it too seriously.
“But then when it came to Italy and then France and Spain you could see how serious it was. And that’s why I must say I’m very disappointed by the way the UK has dealt with it.
“I’m French, but I feel more English. I live in London, my wife is English, my kids are English and I just feel more could have been done. First it was China, then Italy, then Spain, France. Could they not see that it was coming and just do the lockdown quicker to try and prevent things?
“And now, a few months later, we’re the country that’s been the most touched in the whole of Europe. To have all that time to see it coming, yet still not do anything right with it, it’s very frustrating.”