To be honest I never thought I would be writing about
this (At least not for a long time).
We as a nation have lost the third All Black prematurely this
year with Jonah Lomu joining Jerry Collins and Norm Berryman on this unfortunate
list.
Before I start I just want to say that my love goes out
to all of the friends and family of these men that were taken too soon.
Jonah’s passing hit me harder than I thought it would,
when I heard the news I did not believe it nor did I want to believe it to be
true.
In the past few weeks we have all heard the stories of
the man he was off the field and also the highlights and statistics he had on
the field.
I listen to radio sport every day on my way to and from
work and as you would expect Jonah’s news took over the radio, people were
calling and talking about their memories about the man and one thing I heard a
lot as that so many of these people that he had impacted never got the chance
to watch him play live.
It wasn’t until I heard this that I realised how lucky I was
to be able to watch Jonah play live for Counties, Auckland Blues, Waikato Chiefs,
Wellington Hurricanes, Wellington Lions and of course the All Blacks.
I still remember it as if it was yesterday sitting on the
grass with my Dad at Pukekohe watching my favourite Rugby player playing for my
local team.
In those days we had a few school visits from Jonah and I
remember how he made me feel like we were mates and that I wasn’t just some
little kid that he needed to get rid of so he could leave, he truly made it
seem that he has all the time in the world for you.
If it wasn’t for Jonah, dare I say I may not have fallen
in love with sport like I have, he was a kid from South Auckland like me and he
had become this superstar.
I had someone to look up too and hope to emulate (Except
for the fact that my sporting talent was always seriously lacking).
I fast forward past all those years to my early twenties
and Jonah had recently had a Kidney transplant and was on the path of trying to
make a comeback to rugby.
Through a family friendship with his wife at the time I use
to get updates on how he was going and I was hoping like hell that he would get
a chance to wear his black jersey again, at this point in time I was quite
large and he would give me boxes of his old clothes just because he had so much
already and I needed some clothes to fit me properly.
I never got the proper opportunity thank him for that until I got him to sign a
copy of his book for me at the mall and he actually remembered my name, that
single thing put me on cloud nine for the longest time.
In this country, I don’t think we ever truly realised the
man we had until he was gone, the rest of the world loved him so much and you
could just see that by the reaction he got wherever he went.
We may have won the last two World Cups but the moments
from each of those cups that made me proud were seeing him centre field at the
opening ceremony at Eden Park and then a few months ago when he lead a Haka n
England.
Jonah you are an inspiration o me and if I am a quarter
of the man you are when I am laid to rest I will be happy.
It saddens me that you never got to get to your boys 21st
like you had hoped but they will always feel your love from above.
You have shown me how we really cannot take things for
granted, we do not know when our last day will be so we need to do our best every
day to make the most of it and cherish and love the people not only in our
lives but people in general.
I vow to never take the things I have for granted in my
life again and this is a promise I make to my one true sporting hero.
You changed rugby and you touched so many people’s lives
and I am so thankful to have been able to say that I got to watch the Great
Jonah play.
The world has truly lost a humble giant and there will
never be another like you.
Rest in peace Jonah, thank you for everything.
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