World class Australian golfer, Jarrod Lyle, has died after a lengthy battle with leukaemia. This morning, at the USPGA tournament, Aussie golfers wore their hearts on their sleeves and yellow ribbons on their hats in honour of Lyle’s passing. In television interviews, players like Jason Day and Rickie Fowler, expressed their painful loss at the death of their fellow competitor and good mate. Of course, ordinary Australians are losing loved ones to cancer every day and these tragedies are largely experienced in the privacy of their lives, without the accompanying fanfare of celebrity. ‘Jarrod Lyle dies aged 36 from leukaemia’, is a headline that reminds the greater community that cancer remains a major cause of human death in the 21C.
The Death of a Young Sportsperson
The death of a young sportsperson, well before his time, juxtaposes two opposing and ill matched universal themes: glorious achievement vs our mortality. The ancient Romans called it ‘virtus’, The Greeks founded the Olympic games on their love of competition. It seems a very unfair thing for existence to take the life of a young sportsman, husband and father. The death of Jarrod Lyle at just 36 from leukaemia reminds us all about the preciousness of life and that there are no hard and fast rules, when it comes to life and death.
Life’s Rules are Harder to Comprehend
Golf, as a game, has a lot of rules, some say too many. Sports are, however, loved by their exponents and fans because of their clearly defined guidelines. These games are not as complicated as real life. In real life, the rules are harder to comprehend. Moral imperatives are, often, overlaid with more materialistic matters. When a friend and peer dies before the expected allotted life span, it puts many of the prizes and signs of success in a very different light. This tragic passing may be opening doors in the hearts and souls of the golfing community.
Exhausted & Depleted by His Cancer Treatments
Jarrod Lyle chose to end his treatment for leukaemia and go into palliative care. This was his third bout of cancer, with acute myeloid leukaemia. The young golfer was, obviously, physically exhausted and depleted by his long battle with this disease. Going home to die, to be with family, and not surrounded by hospital walls, staff and machines, becomes the bravest and most sensible decision in the end. I hope that he had some authentic plant-based herbal medicine to soothe him in his final days.
