Coronavirus: Doctor crowned Miss England wants to come home to help fight disease

Beauty queen Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, broke down in tears when she realised her flight from India to the UK had been cancelled - and she is now appealing for the Government to get her home

Bhasha Mukherjee is appealing for the Government to get her home (Image: Mercury Press)

A junior doctor who holds the Miss England crown wants to come home from India so she can join the fight against coronavirus.

Bhasha Mukherjee, 24, is appealing for the Government to bring her back to the UK after India went into total lockdown, axing flights out of the country.

Ms Mukherjee took a break from her work at Pilgrim Hospital, in Boston, Lincolnshire, to carry out aid work around the world as Miss England.

She arrived in India in March and is now one of thousands of Brits stranded in the country.

The beauty pageant winner is currently self-isolating with relatives in Kolkata, while India tackles the coronavirus crisis.

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The 24-year-old was touring the world to carry out humanitarian work (Image: MERCURY PRESS)

She said: "It was last week that everything started to change very rapidly.

"I started getting emails from work asking me to return.

"My colleagues were telling me they are doing 13 hour shifts seven days a week and having to do night shifts too.

"When I heard that I felt so guilty, I really wanted to go back to work.

Miss Mukherjee has received emails asking her to return to work (Image: Mercury Press & Media)

"I knew how badly I was needed so I emailed telling them I was willing to come back but now I'm stuck here and I don't know when I will be able to come home.

"I had a flight booked for Saturday morning but after four hours of waiting on the runway the captain told us to disembark from the plane and all other flights had been cancelled due to a national travel ban.

Her colleagues are doing 13 hour shifts seven days a week - and having to do night shifts (Image: Mercury Press & Media)

"It would be really helpful if the UK government could do something to help British nationals get home.

"I know this is a global pandemic but I have no idea how to handle the situation.

"As Miss England you are expected to wear the crown and dress up but I kept looking at the news and seeing the death toll rising in the UK and I didn't feel like dressing up."

The beauty queen is the current Miss England (Image: Mercury Press & Media)

Bhasha was born in Kolkata, India, but moved to Derby with her parents and brother when she was nine years old.

Last August, the talented beauty started her first shift as a junior doctor just hours after taking home the Miss England crown.

At the start of this month she flew back to her country of birth to start a humanitarian tour with the Coventry Mercia Lions, a group that supports several international charities, and her mum, Mita.

But on Saturday Bhasha's trip was cut short and she was forced to leave her mum behind to fly from Delhi to Kolkata to stay with her aunt, uncle and grandmother after her mum was unable to book onto the same flight - missing Mother's Day with her daughter.

She said she feels guilty as her co-workers are working tirelessly amid the outbreak (Image: Mercury Press)

Now Bhasha's mum has been forced to stay in Delhi where they left each other and stay with other family friends for the foreseeable.

Bhasha said: "I booked the first flight I could after my last commitment in India, it was a week before we were meant to be flying to Pakistan for our next trip.

"When we got to the airport there were lots of flight cancellations.

"The Prime Minister of India had made an announcement about imposing a national curfew and a travel ban from the following day.

She is self-isolating in India but wants to return to the UK (Image: Mercury Press & Media)

"We were hoping to be out of the country by the end of the day because it would be the last day that we could travel.

"I got on the flight and they started doing the safety checks.

"I actually fell asleep because it was really early in the morning but when I woke up an hour had gone by and we were still on the ground.

"I asked the flight attendant and she told me they were trying to fix a technical problem with the aircraft.

Miss Mukherjee broke down in tears when her flight back home was cancelled (Image: Mercury Press & Media)

"After another couple of hours the captain asked the passengers to disembark from the plane and told us that it wouldn't be going.

"It was such an anxiety provoking situation I thought how am I going to get home and back to work.

"There were hundreds of people just standing there in the airport with their bags desperately trying to get on a flight and leave, I was just sat on the floor crying.

"Everyone was crying, desperately trying to get home. I felt like a refugee.

"Now I'm here I'm having to self isolate because my grandmother is 92 and vulnerable.

"I'm literally stuck in my room feeling completely useless."

As well as trapping British nationals around the world with travel bans, the deadly virus has also seen unprecedented changes to the Miss England contest with pageant bosses deciding to postpone all upcoming heats and this year's final.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/coronavirus-doctor-crowned-miss-england-21746590