Sierra Leone's top sprinter who went missing after Glasgow's Commonwealth Games last summer, is now applying for asylum in the UK after he was found sleeping rough on the streets of London. Jimmy Thoronka, 20, disappeared at the end of the Games and failed to return to the Ebola-hit west African country. Already orphaned by the war in Sierra Leone, he claims that his entire adopted family have been wiped out by the disease while he has been in the UK. Thoronka, who said that he wanted to claim asylum in the UK so he could fulfill his dream of becoming a top athlete, now faces deportation. An online petition appealing to the authorities to let Mr Thoronka remain in the UK has so far attracted more than 57,000 signatures and well wishers have donated more than £24,000 to help the young athlete. Jimmy Thoronka carrying the Commonwealth baton in Sierra Leone. He has been arrested for overstaying his visa and claims all his immediate family are dead from Ebola so he cannot return home . An online petition appealing to the authorities to let Mr Thoronka remain in the UK has so far attracted more than 57,000 signatures and well wishers have donated more than £24,000 to help the young athlete . Among the high profile names to support his plight are supermodel Lily Cole, and comedian Russell Brand. The Guardian said it had interviewed Thoronka before he was detained for overstaying his visa. He claimed there were no flights to Sierra Leone immediately after the Games and his team-mates all scattered, some staying with relatives and friends until they could return home. But he said his own bag -  containing his money and passport  - were stolen. His visa expired last September and after a brief stint with friends, he has been sleeping on the streets in parks and on buses ever since. He today told the BBC's Sarah Montague that he wanted to claim asylum in the UK so he could fulfill his dream of becoming a top athlete. Asylum is only granted to those who are in fear of persecution in their home country. He said of Sierra Leone: 'Nobody persecute me or anything, my problem is I don't have a family there to stay with. The person who would help me has passed by Ebola. If I go back i will not make it and I will kill myself, because i cannot pursue my dream. I want to be the fastest sprinter in the world.' When Thoronka, the country's number one 100m sprinter, left Sierra Leone for Glasgow, some Ebola cases had been confirmed in a few of the villages surrounding Freetown, but the epidemic had not yet taken hold of the capital. The death toll in the country is now more than 3,500 cases. The runner said: 'I was hoping to win a medal for my country. But during the Games I got the terrible news that my uncle had died, probably from Ebola. 'I couldn't stop crying. It was difficult to continue with competing but I tried to carry on.' He is not working illegally, nor claiming benefits or housing, and understands the legal implications of remaining in the UK after his visa has expired, but said his situation is hopeless. After the Games, he stayed for a while with friends in Leicester - and found out that his entire immediate family had been killed by Ebola. Later he went to London and began sleeping in parks and on night buses and begging for £1 from passers-by to buy chips. 'Some days I get no food at all. I wash in public toilets and sleep in the park,' he said. 'I wake up around 4am and if I've got a bus pass I get on the night bus and sleep there until morning. 'I met a man who sometimes lets me sleep at his house but I have to wait outside for him to come home at 10 or 11pm and I get very cold. 'We have a cold season in Sierra Leone but it is not cold like England. Some days I don't think I'm going to make it and just feel like killing myself. 'My dream is to become one of the best sprinters in the world but I don't see how that can happen now.' Hampden Park in Glasgow was the venue for the track and field events during the Commonwealth Games . He was arrested on Friday and quizzed by officers over whether he was carrying or using drugs, which he denied. He has since applied for asylum and has been released into Home Office accommodation. The newspaper said hundreds of people have since been in touch to offer support, and a petition has been set up on change.org to support him. It calls for the Government to 'let Jimmy stay here on compassionate grounds, so that he can find a sponsor to help him to continue his athletics career' and has received almost 58,000 signatures. It says: 'With our support, and the opportunities we have in the UK, Jimmy can have a new start and realise his huge potential as a sprinting star.' A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'We cannot comment on individual cases, but there is assistance available for people to return home when they are not entitled to remain in the UK.'
Jimmy Thoronka's entire immediate family has succumbed to the disease . Was detained on Friday by police who found him in an emaciated state . Thoronka has since claimed asylum and is in Home Office accommodation . An online petition appealing to the authorities to let Mr Thoronka remain in the country has so far attracted more than 57,000 signatures .