Jonah was the first idol I ever had.. The thought of him being gone is impossible to accept.
I was 3 years old when the 1995 RWC began. I was inbetween jobs at the time so wasn't analyzing rugby games when he first made a name for himself but you couldn't go anywhere without his name being mentioned. I have a signed picture of Jonah holding me as a baby with his big goofy smile. As a grew older I fell in love with Rugby. At around the age of 6 I developed a real fascination with both Rugby and Dinosaurs but loved the big rugby playing Dinosaur most. I bought his Autobiography when it was first released an must have read through it hundreds of times before Id finished school and seen replays of him running down Brits more than a few hundy times.
As time wore on he became slower, started missing a lot of games, became sick. But every time he stepped on that field, regardless of what sort of form he was in, people noticed. Every time he touched the ball the crowd went insane. They say no one person is bigger than the game itself, but damn, Jonah got bloody close.
In 2003 Lomu sent mass panic through kiwis as we woke to the news of him being hospitalised due to his kidney condition. He kept playing during that time on and off until 2004 when he was again hospitalised. This time it was even more serious. A fan then donated Lomu his kidney which saved his life.
A year later Jonah returned to rugby to shock the world. He wasn't the greatest player anymore, he had played with numb legs and feet for the last 3 years of his career so its no surprise he was struggling after his return. But he was a fighter, he was never going to give up.
Its sad to see you go but you can relax now big fella. You can haunt your kids and watch them grow old with some peace an quiet, don't have to let people take selfies with you anymore. Enjoy your ghost chips bro
RIP
18-Nov-2015 01:18:54
- Last edited on
18-Nov-2015 01:57:11
by
Jordanious77
