A LIGHT has gone out. A friend, a team-mate, a mentor... Most of all a husband, a father, a son, a brother lost. Jody Gormley was a decent man, good craic, interested and interesting, a warm-hearted human being who looked for the best in people and inspired so many from his days as a footballer with his beloved Trillick and Tyrone to his years as a teacher and a coach.
Gone far too soon at 53, Jody’s story touched us all and the dignity he showed during his sudden decline from good health to terminal illness will stay with many of us.
Peter Canavan has lost a dear friend. They go back to the Tyrone All-Ireland U21-team of 1992 and went on the All-Ireland final with the Red Hands in 1995.
“We had time to get ready for it but it’s still hard to take it in,” said an emotional Canavan.
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“He told us he didn’t have long, he said that was going to be the case and we were hoping it wouldn’t pan out that way but…
“Aye, he put up a brave fight over the last few days, he didn’t let go easy. They thought he might not get through last weekend but… Ah now, it’s tragic.
“When you were a cub running about you thought anybody over 50 was ancient but when you get to this age you don’t see it as too old or something to be worried about. It puts things into perspective. It wasn’t as if Jody didn’t look after himself – if there was anybody who was in great nick it was him. It’s just very sad.”
Tributes are called for at times like these but there truly was an uncommon joie de vivre and confident self-awareness about Jody Gormley that attracted people and inspired them. Even after he was informed that his cancer was terminal he spoke of how he’d always thought of himself as a lucky man...
“We had great days in football,” says Peter.
“On the pitch he was Mr Reliable and off it you could say the same. We won an All-Ireland with the U21s in 1992 and we had great years with the seniors, we came very close to winning the Sam Maguire in ‘95. You never had to worry if Jody’s preparation was going to be good or if he was going to be up for the game. His consistency levels were something else.
“He played most of his football at midfield and he’s not the biggest to be competing against the Brian McGilligans of this world. For a few years it was him and Pascal (Canavan), or him and Feargal Logan and they were able to compete and, as an inside forward, you were guaranteed you’d be getting ball into you.
“The bigger the challenge, the better he responded – that was him on the pitch.
“Off it, he was down-to-earth and unassuming and he enjoyed the craic as much as anybody after winning games so there was a great balance to him.
“On the one side, as hard a trainer as you would want to meet and always trying to challenge himself and try and better himself but there was a down-time to him and he was good company on a night out.”
Jody held on to those principles right to the end. Peter and his team-mates from the Tyrone 1995 team were in the throng at the Parador Bar in Belfast last month for what Jody termed a ‘living wake’ to celebrate friendships and, very poignantly, to say goodbye.
“That night in the Parador summed him up,” said Peter.
“There was nobody as big a competitor who wanted to win things as Jody but that night was typical of him. He enjoyed people’s company and the friendship groups that he had.
“1995 is a long time ago and it’s a measure of the man that when that night was organised virtually everybody made a point to be there to see Jody. Paul Donnelly came over from London, Sean McLaughlin drove up from Cork…
“That tells its own story about how highly-regarded Jody Gormley was.”
Jody was working out in the hotel gym alongside his son James on his family’s summer holiday in Miami when he suffered a stroke which was quickly identified by his wife Deirdre. He was taken to hospital without delay and was on the road to complete recovery when, so cruelly, he was then diagnosed with a terminal liver cancer.
Despite the enormity of what he faced and the rotten luck, he refused to feel sorry for himself and vowed to use the days he had left to spend time with his family and many friends.
“He was always a realist and he met things head-on,” says Canavan.
“He was quick to accept the inevitable and he wanted to make things as easy on his family as possible. The way he spoke about it and dealt with it showed remarkable courage and it summed him up too – he wasn’t backing away or shying away from reality.
“He was thinking of others, how to make it easy on his family and acknowledging the good life that he had. He said himself he was privileged to come from such a strong club as Trillick and privileged to play for Tyrone. He had some great memories to look back on and he wanted to dwell on that rather than the negative.”
They were team-mates for years at county level but of course opponents many times too when Errigal Ciaran crossed swords with Trillick in typically competitive Tyrone league and championship clashes.
“We had many a battle on the field,” says Peter.
“There was nobody as competitive on the pitch as Jody but I don’t recall having a bad word with him. Pascal would have come up against him in midfield and the two of them would have went at it hard but the first man to shake your hand was Jody. There was never any gubbing (trash talking) out of Jody Gormley, he played hard and was the first to shake your hand.
“That was the spirit of the man and he didn’t change. It was always the same Jody Gormley. It’s hard to believe he’s gone.”
