‘Could not have scripted a better day’: The magic of the Narre Warren Magpies in John Guthrie’s final days
When stage four cancer ravaged John Guthrie’s life and body, there was just one place he wanted to be — his beloved local footy club. And boy, did the Narre Warren Magpies put on a fitting final send off.
Victoria
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You could not have scripted a better day.
These were the words John Guthrie shared with his palliative care nurse as his devoted wife Janmaree prepared a special dinner request, margarine toast and a cup of tea, metres away.
The former Australia Post postie, battling a stage 4 glioblastoma that ravaged his once fit and healthy body, was nearing the end of his life. It could be days, hours.
But at least for the time being, on that one Saturday in August, spirits were lifted.
Not long before, John, Janmaree, his stepchildren Kate and Daniel, and dozens of their loved ones had returned from watching his beloved Narre Warren Magpies take down the Monbulk Hawks, continuing the club’s stellar 2024 campaign.
They weren’t the stars of the day, though - that was John.
“He was telling the RN that he could not have scripted a better day, they were his exact words,” an emotional Janmaree told the Sunday Herald Sun.
Then 19 months into fighting the insidious disease, John, ever the sports fanatic, had just made what would be his final pilgrimage to Narre Warren Football Club, a last outing made possible by volunteers from the Royal Flying Doctor service’s Memory Lane team.
When faced with one’s mortality, people often ponder how best to spend their remaining days; the money they would splurge, the adrenaline rushes they might chase.
For John, the answer was clear as day.
“All he wanted to do was watch his football with his twin brother and have fish and chips,” Janmaree said, proudly scrolling through images of John in his club beanie, of course, riding in the specialised RFDS vehicle used to transport him to the ground.
“I’d organised a local fish and chip shop, who were sensational, in Timbara. I ordered $250 worth for anyone who turned up to the club that day.”
She beams, continuing: “He had a little bite of his fish and chips, and his team won. He actually got to have everything he wanted.
“There were nieces and nephews who came, my sister came, his brother – it was just joyous, it really was. It was actually the first game (this year) where he managed to stay for the entire game because he didn’t have any energy during the rest of the season.”
The 63-year-old, who before his terminal diagnosis worked out twice daily and religiously stayed abreast of current affairs, suffered a devastating haemorrhage – his second in a week – after returning home from the game.
He died at home less than 48 hours later with twin brother Doug by his side.
“For him to be out there that last day, to do what he loved, it meant everything because we actually had something to look forward to,” a teary Janmaree said, dabbing at her eyes as she reflected on the day.
“We had something to focus on that was positive, that was fun. We had something other than just death and medical.
“We got to do something that everyone else was doing, which is just called doing life.
“That’s the most important thing, that just we were able to do life, as everyone else gets to experience, in that last day.”
Venturing down to take in the games, despite never having played for the club, had become a weekend ritual for John.
Not everybody knew his name at Kalora Park, but they sure recognised him.
It was one of few places that gave him a sense of belonging, of community. Deep fried goodies from the canteen did not go astray, either.
“He was sports mad. Always a keen follower, always very active,” Janmaree said.
“He loved soccer, football, because being Scottish heritage – his mum and dad’s Scottish – they all played, but he was crap at football.”
Back in 1972, she said, an 11-year-old John joined the Doveton Lions Football Club, only to spend much of his first season as boundary umpire instead of playing.
He didn’t quite have the skills to match his passion, Janmaree joked.
A particular highlight – one that incites more laughter from her – is John’s cherished “Services Rendered” award, which she pulls out of a cabinet nearby.
“You know who presented him that?” she said, adding that it was former Collingwood player Vaughan Ellis, who played 19 VFL games in the 1960s.
As the laughter in the room eventually quietens, a palpable sense of loss and grief returns. It’s truly hard not to feel the gaping hole that remains since his death. A digital photo frame – something John loved to watch instead of TV while largely confined to bed – flicks through happier times.
Their single-storey home in Berwick of 25 years is where Janmaree feels closest to him.
It was at the kitchen bench where they received the doctor’s phone call that turned their lives upside down, and only a few steps away, near the window overlooking their backyard – something John had cared for meticulously – where he took his last breath.
“We said goodbye lots of times, because there was lots of times he was so unwell that he thought he would go,” Janmaree said.
“Our conversations took a different level, it was more about being grateful. There was more about gratitude, being humble for everything that we had in life, and what we’d done together.
“There’s people out there that don’t ever get the opportunity to experience these things. We got holidays. We had time together. We got time to say goodbye.”
Sitting on the same two-seater couch in their living room where she’d spent much of this year sleeping after transforming their living area into a makeshift hospital room, Janmaree smiles as she reflects on their nearly three “wonderful” decades.
John loved Elvis Presley, had a soft spot for chips and dim sims, worked as a mechanic for Ford and Holden, a linesman for Telstra and adored nothing more than spending time with those he loved. He and Janmaree would often drive for hours just to read the paper and enjoy a cuppa in a new spot.
Asked what first caught her eye when she first met John playing evening tennis at Fountain Gate following their respective marriage breakdowns, she ponders for a moment. How do you sum up the love of your life, some of their best qualities, in a quick sentence?
Perhaps, no words could sum it up better than the tribute Janmaree shared in his eulogy.
“In his quiet and unassuming way, he was always present, never missing a detail,” the poignant tribute read.
“He paid attention, listened carefully, observed everything, and loved deeply – all without making a fuss.”
How fitting it was, that on that one sunny Saturday in August – a day that could not have been better scripted – the man who shied away from the centre of attention was the most celebrated on and off the field.
Vale John Guthrie.
If you want to learn more or support the volunteers at The Royal Flying Doctor’s ‘Memory Lane’, visit flyingdoctormemorylane.org.au.
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