Jody Gormley’s life was not as long as it should have been but, in the space of his 53 years, he still made himself an enormous force for good in a range of hugely significant ways.
Mr Gormley died on Monday night just over a month after he was diagnosed with a rare terminal liver cancer while at the height of his exceptional career as a GAA coach and a teacher.
Although his passing is above all an incalculable loss to his family, everyone else he encountered throughout his educational and sporting career also knew that he was an inspirational and much loved figure.
He was deeply respected over many years by his students at the Abbey CBS in Newry and was also one of the most revered players and managers produced by the GAA in the modern era.
When his cancer condition was unexpectedly confirmed in October, he would have been fully entitled to retreat into a private period of reflection with those closest to him.
Instead, he bravely spoke out publicly to focus attention on the treatment of such illnesses and to explain his wider philosophy in the most difficult of circumstances.
He made a major impact through his moving interviews with both The Irish News and the BBC as he provided his thoughts on coping with the realities of a death which should have been decades away but, as he was acutely aware, would follow within weeks.
Mr Gormley told this newspaper: “We always talk about challenges in sport and there are challenges in life as well. What do you do? You just have to look down the barrel of the gun and say: ‘Right, this is what I’ve got to deal with here, I’m just going to have to make the most of it’.”
He did indeed make the most of the time he had left, by engaging with as many friends and colleagues as possible, sending out a powerful message about addressing adversity of the worst kind and saying his goodbyes with his trademark smile as broad as ever.
Mr Gormley said he intended to enjoy every moment which was left to him, set small goals, be grateful for what he had and surround himself with good people.
Those were wonderful words, and they mean that his legacy, and his astonishing capacity to use all his abilities to influence events in a positive way, will resonate long after his passing.
If the classic definition of courage is grace under pressure, very few people have demonstrated it more vividly in both life and death than Jody Gormley.
