The World Mourns The Loss Of Jim Stynes!

WONDERFUL. An inspiration. Sorely missed. An icon. A legend. A decent man and a mate.
From the thousands of tributes to Jim Stynes who died yesterday at the age of 45, many reiterated those words above yet each carried the individual impression of a person touched by a true great, not just in football but in life.
Stynes was that kind of person, many said. A man who made a big impact on individuals in private but also someone with a vision so grand that mastering a foreign football code became achievable, as did setting up a youth organisation called the Reach Foundation to help others fulfil their potential.
Kevin Sheedy, who has often described the Stynes story as the best in the indigenous code's 153-year history, stressed his admiration for the 1991 Brownlow medallist who strung together a record 244 consecutive games and later rescued the Melbourne Football Club from the brink of disaster after he became president.
"A superb person who has made an outstanding contribution to Australia and will be sorely missed," Sheedy said.

Yet Stynes, who was awarded an Order of Australia and thrice named Victorian of the Year, would be certain to stress his story was no more extraordinary than the challenges overcome by Liam Jurrah, the young Demon who now faces his own battle.
"I saw him first-hand in Yuendumu when we went up there in the Northern Territory to visit Liam Jurrah's family," former Essendon star Tim Watson said.
"I saw him for a couple of days there and he was struggling with his health and I was just amazed by the bravery and the courage he displayed up there."
Former teammate David Schwarz said it was Stynes's work with disadvantaged youth, more than his football ability, that set him apart.
"It was something that he was passionate about and it probably sums up the whole Jim Stynes story in that it was not about him, it was about all the people he could help," Schwarz said.
"It was amazing the effect that he had on lives that were normally just forgotten about or destroyed. He saved them, he resurrected the lives of many of these young kids who now, some of them we see as just beautiful people who have been given a second opportunity, all thanks to Jim Stynes."
Those street kids are not the only ones hurting. Melbourne's joint captains Jack Grimes and Jack Trengove are barely men and stood shattered yesterday at the MCG.

"He saved the Melbourne Football Club. He's definitely the most inspirational person I have ever met and probably ever will meet," Trengove said.
"You just assume (because of) how much of a fighter he is that he would be around, so you never thought this day would ever come.
"He had an impact on so many people and me personally, being able to speak to him and learn off him and realise how much of an impact he has had."
Julia Gillard expressed her sadness, as did the man she replaced as Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd. Don McLardy, who assumed the Melbourne presidency from Stynes when he stepped down last month, penned a heartfelt tribute.
Robert DiPierdimenco, another Brownlow medallist, talked of being introduced to a then 14-year-old Stynes by Ron Barassi on a trip to Ireland and talked of his distress when he hugged him for the last time a week ago.
Sportsmen from around the globe expressed their dismay, Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong and Shane Warne among them.
The despair was also evident in his homeland. Paul Clarke, who captained Stynes in Gaelic football, told the Irish Examiner he would be remembered forever.

"We had heard he wasn't well in recent months but you just thought . . . that he was bulletproof," Clarke said.
Among the beautifully written and voiced tributes, it was AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou who delivered a line that best assesses the life of Stynes.
"It is an incredible story that if you wrote it, you couldn't believe it was anything other than fiction, yet all of it is true," he said.
"We are all the better for knowing Jim Stynes."
Stynes is survived by his wife, Samantha, and children Matisse and Tiernan.

Story by: Courtney Walsh - The Australian March 21, 2012

RIP JIMMY!!! A TRUE LEGEND AS A FOOTBALLER AND AN INSPIRATION AS A MAN!!!

YOU WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN!