Jim Stynes and Jules Lund's bond for life
THE moment Getaway reporter Jules Lund met Brownlow medallist Jim Stynes is a moment he will never forget.
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THE moment Getaway reporter Jules Lund met Brownlow medallist Jim Stynes is a moment he will never forget. Here he describes their strange introduction and how their friendship has grown stronger than any illness.
"What's your name?"
"Rupert."
A sea of schoolboys crack up, as they sit captivated by this "monster of a man" confronting the smartarse who's been sabotaging his workshop.
How does Jim Stynes inspire you? Leave a comment below.
PLUS watch the documentary at 6.30pm and tell us what you think
"You're lying. Who are you?"
"My name is Jules."
I remember it like it was yesterday.
This "hot-shot celebrity footballer" and this "drama queen film director" had naively pulled 200 students from De La Salle College into a hall to talk about their feelings.
After stopping the teacher from kicking me out, Jim asked me to stand up and for the next 15 minutes we played a game of cat and mouse; until Jim eventually cut through.
Two weeks later I walked into the very first Reach course and never left. And 16 years later that Irishman would become my groomsman at my wedding.
In fact, from almost being booted out of school for telling people "where to go", to now working on Getaway, Jim has always had my back.
And when you consider that he has done the same thing for thousands of kids, it makes it even harder to comprehend how the universe could repay his generosity with a terminal illness.
This is Jim Stynes. The guy goes in search of challenges. He chooses them. They don't choose him. And so began a 15-month and 19-tumour roller-coaster which has left his family and friends spellbound at his remarkable, yet bizarre approach to a diagnosis that gave him only nine months to live.
It was so compelling and inspiring that I kept taking out my handy-cam to capture his courageous battle.
When Paul Currie (co-founder of The Reach Foundation and that "drama queen film director" I mentioned earlier) heard about some of the footage we were gathering, he left his home in Los Angeles and has since crafted a one-hour masterpiece. As it goes to air tonight, you'll feel just how intimate this story is.
It's confronting to allow the public into your struggle. But Jim has always been compelled to share the wisdom from his life's tests. You pass on the lessons you learn.
Tonight you'll see a documentary that's not about a footballer. It's not even a tale about someone fighting cancer. It's a rare insight into a mind that is nothing short of extraordinary and an exploration of a spirit so powerful; it's carried a giant of a man, even when his body failed him.
It's not a story about Jim the patient, but Jim the teacher.
Every Heart Beats True: The Jim Stynes Story: Sunday 19th 6:30pm on Nine. For a preview, go to www.reach.org.au
