What kind of a feeling is it when an immediate relative is killed and you cannot get to see the body for over five weeks? Ask Gill Woolmer, she will provide you with all the answers.
As the coroner in Jamaica ordered Bob Woolnmer’s body be flown to South Africa on Monday, it was not just relief for the family but every human who respected the famous coach.
I remember, in 1995, when the Ferozabad train tragedy took place, a well-known athletics coach – PV Ravanan from the Sports Authority of India -- got killed in it. Young track and field trainees in that ill-fated compartment were also killed. For Ravanan’s family and close friends, the next three days were one of sheer trauma.
Ferozabad is not far from New Delhi, but it took almost three days for the body to come to the Capital and then be cremated. The rain and unhygienic conditions in Ferozabad were not the best to preserve bodies. But as one got the last glimpse of Ravanan, one was badly shaken seeing a lively man pass away in such tragic circumstances.
I am trying to imagine which of the two deaths was worse. In the Indian coach’s case, the reasons for death were clear, just that he was snatched away when he had many more years to give to Indian sport.
Battling the loss of a dear is not easy, so in Woolmer’s case if wife Gill has spent 37 days waiting for the body, she must have lost all energy. To be killed in an alien land is one thing, but for the relatives not getting to see the body for such a long period is torture which is felt every minute It is not as if this a wait where the patient is battling for life in an ICU.
In a case like this, Gill and her children knew Bob will not come back. But would they have ever imagined even in the most bizarre dream that Bob’s body would not come back for such a long time.
I cannot think of any such instance in sport, where an athlete or coach passed away and his family had to be put through such an indescribable ordeal. Memorial services have been held for Bob Woolmer the world over and the World Cup is almost coming to an end.
But for Gill and her children, this is a beginning even after the end. Ask them, and they will be able to tell you about it…
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I am glad that finally it is happening. Losing a loved one in itself is shattering experience not to speak of the circumstances in which Woolmer was killed, it would have further aggrieved the family.
But I have a feeling that Gill knew that Woolmer was playing with fire… I mean the man was in the process of writing a reveal-all book on match-fixing and without doubt she would have asked Bob to stay away from all that but I suppose some men like to take the tough path in life.
Probably, he had taken it upon himself to put an end to the involvement of mafia in the so-called gentleman’s game but ended up paying for it through his life.
Going a little further I would cite an example from basketball. The sport in the US too was facing a similar problem until they decided to legalise betting and that reduced the push and pulls off the field.
Now, you would say that betting can’t be compared to match-fixing but if you think deeply you would realise how profound their involvement is.
So is that an answer to making the sport clean of all the muck…. Well, I would say that is for the experts to ponder.
But remember, those who passed away will never come back…. at least save the others.
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