Jim Stynes

For those of you outside Australia and Ireland, Jim Stynes was a young Gaelic football player in Ireland who was recruited to play in the Australian Football League in the 1980s and rose to the very top of the sport, winning accolade after accolade. Yet it was his life after retirement from football that really showed his mettle. To quote from an article on abc.net.au:

"Football wasn't the sum total of the man. His most admired deeds came through his philanthropy. He recognised the needs of Melbourne's lost youth. He took his crusade to the streets in the city's darkest hours through the creation of the Reach Foundation.

He didn't speak in platitudes; he spoke directly to those that needed help. To the teenager in foster care full of bitterness and rebellion. The soul that seemed destined to be lost to drugs and crime or the scourge of youth suicide. His gift was the ability to reach across a divide no other figure of authority could bridge. He connected with the most disaffected."

In 2009 or thereabouts Jim Stynes was diagnosed with cancer and manged to live two years longer than expected, resolutely living his life to the full, right to the very end.

This is what he once said about having cancer (again from a article on abc.net.au):

"[Stynes] once told me that having cancer was a privilege. He said he had worked with many young people who had been in life-threatening situations, and he never really knew how they felt.

He believed having cancer would help him understand what those young people were experiencing, and make him a much better person to help them. Cancer [as] a privilege - it takes a special person to consider that."

That is an inspiring example of spiritual growth and understanding that will not only help him greatly in the next world, but also have helped him be of greater service in this one.

He was indeed a remarkable man who affected many. Not one person ever said a negative word about him - at least in the public domain.

There's a lad as will be carrying on good works from the other side.
Nice to read these inspiring tales on here. So much negativity in newspapers it's easy to forget that by and large people are good eggs. This chap sounds like one of the best.

Widely covered in every state in Australia but especially the Aussie Rules states (SA, WA, Victoria and Tasmania). Great stories written very caringly.