So young, so much to offer

Tim Howard shares his memories of Holly Butcher who passed away on Thursday

SAD LOSS: Holly Butcher, pictured with partner Luke Ashley-Cooper at their friend Terri Valdes’ wedding in May 2016, was inspirational during the latter stages of her battle with Ewing’s sarcoma before she died on Thursday morning.

IT HAS come as no surprise to me that Holly Butcher's moving farewell letter to the world has gone viral.

Holly, who died on Thursday after a battle with a rare cancer, at the tragically young age of 27, was among many things, a brilliantly talented athlete, who played both hockey and squash for her state.

As a teen she exhibited a remarkable honesty and world awareness of her talent and the possibilities it might create, without the ego that is sometimes thought to be essential to sporting success.

After she was made captain of the NSW CHS team in 2008 I can still remember her talking up her teammates and her candid revelation that sport was just for fun and her career choices might lie elsewhere.

At the time I thought, "we might have something here" and over the next few years kept tabs on her progress in both hockey and squash.

Even in those short interviews, she left an impression and at odd times in those intervening years you sometimes wondered what she was up to.

Some time last year I learned the sad truth about Holly's battle with illness.

Reading her letter showed what a tragedy her early death was, not just for her and her family, but all of us.

That someone must die so young is incredibly sad, but in Holly's case it occurred at a time when she showed she had so much to offer. That's tragic.

Originally published as So young, so much to offer