Like everyone else, I woke last Friday morning to the tragic news of the death of Phillip Walsh. I’ve written in this column before that the word ‘tragedy’ is one of the most overused and misused words in sports reporting. Someone injuring their knee is not a tragedy; it’s an injury.
What we all woke up to last Friday is a tragedy on so many levels. Many we cannot contemplate and I hope we will never have to. As a broadcaster, I did not enjoy being on air on SEN on Friday. You have a duty to report the latest news on something like this, and you need to allow the listeners to have their say and express their feelings, but you also need to keep it in perspective.
Deaths of this type happen every week, and, unfortunately, those of some people do not make front-page news because of who they are.
We all understand the celebrity profile of this death. That makes me sad because the family is now thrown into the spotlight whether they like it or not. I am not a fan of the media circus that will envelope the Walsh family and Adelaide for the next week. Yes, it’s their job, but I do hope they do it with some class, and not be crass and confronting. That would not be appropriate and should not be tolerated.
It does highlight one thing, though. No matter what your occupation, salary or fame we are all still human beings.
None of us is perfect. Life, no matter how privileged or not, is precious and can be snuffed out in an instant.
Every one of us has to deal with the death of a loved one at some time in our lives. We all handle it differently and, hopefully, we appreciate life a bit more because of it.
The circumstances of this event are very hard to fathom and understand. We all know family relationships can be volatile but perhaps we all need to be more understanding and less judgemental.
I know this tragedy has touched many people. I hope it also touches people in a way that we make change so we never have to wake up to this kind of story again.
Vale Phillip Walsh.
