It would be grossly unfair to say Karl Jacka “lost” his battle with cancer.
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For the way Karl fought this insidious disease he was, and is, a champion.
Where many would have gone into their shell, and wallowed in self pity, after being diagnosed, Jacka took the opposite approach.
Instead of asking “why me?”, he asked what he could do to help others – the sign of a true leader.
Even when it was all about him, Karl made it all about the team.
“I’m not going to let Rutherglen footy club fall apart because of me, I've only been there for two years. It’s been there for 100 years and it will be there for another 100,” he said.
“If I approach it right, they’ll be better people, not footballers, people, for the lessons of this.
“To use a footy analogy, if you’re going to lose, you have to get something out if it.”
I would say we’ve all got something out of the way Karl conducted himself in the past six months.
Rutherglen Football-Netball Club, in its own words, is better for having had Jacka at the helm.
Unfortunately, dealing with tragedy isn’t something that’s new to the Cats after the death of much-loved netballer Jess McLennan last year.
However, the legacy of Jacka’s leadership through that period will remain.
“It's never easy losing a member of the Border community but especially Karl who contributed over and above his fair share,” Albury’s newest citizen of the year and outgoing chairman of the Relay for Life, Carl Friedlieb, said.
“Cancer is evil and the way that Team Jacka … faced it was precisely defined as heroic. You all wore your hearts on your sleeves and gave 1000 per cent to beat this evil disease.”
It’s now up to us to ensure this year’s event is bigger and better and that we maintain the rage when it comes to finding a cure for cancer. If we all take nothing else from Karl’s brave fight, it should be to appreciate each day and savour the “little wins”.
The outpouring of grief over the weekend from Lavington to Balranald and everywhere in between is testament to the character he was.
Whether it was through a quiet beer at the bar after footy – and he did love a beer – or his weekly radio segment on 2AY, we all felt like Karl was our mate.
And that’s why he’ll be so greatly missed.
Well played.
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