It's yuk. And a total fluke accident. I mean, for the ball to hit him in such a way that it slipped under the side of his helmet and caused a transection of his vertebral artery? Unbelievable. Total tragedy and I feel so very sorry for everyone left behind.
It is totally yuk. The Australian team doctor made a statement that mentioned there are less then 100 documented cases of this specific injury ever... That said, I still can't for the life of me fathom how Sean Abbott ever bowls a cricket ball again.
I feel so really, truly awful right now, and I don't even know why. But it's like you said, I didn't need to know him personally, I knew enough about him- and even more now- to feel physically affected. Just the idea of Phil Hughes and how I've always thought of cricket as a sport inured from these incidents. I was so convinced he would make it, because the alternate seemed almost impossible, like in Schumacher's skiing accident. That he would live to see 26. And to imagine what Sean Abbott must be going through, what he will continue to go through for such a long time to come. It's such a freak, insane tragedy.
I just (after hearing about it all day but not quite being ready for it yet - a luxury, to be able to just not for a while, I know...) watched Michael Clarke's press conference. He stops half-way through, on the verge of losing his shit, and barely audibly mutters "do your job" to himself.
This should NOT be his job, hey?
Thank you for the link. Given I've just done the above (and am currently sitting here in a pool of my own tears and snot!!), I may as well go all out and read some other things likely to make me cry!
I wanted his 63* to be 100*. I know it means nothing, I really do. But this is all so unfinished. A 63* not out is a start, not and end. It isn’t the end of anything. It’s on the way to something bigger. Not an abyss. He had so far to go, in life and cricket, and a pointless cricket milestone might mean nothing in 50 years, but it meant something to him, and too much of this has ended too early. I want the scorers to change it. I want them to give him those 37 runs. I want someone to tell him that we all miss him already. And that we’ll all try look after the bowler. That we’ll look into new helmet designs. That we’ll not treat young players so haphazardly. That as long as cricket is known, so should the name of Phil Hughes. Phillip.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that, as far as my flist goes, only youcallitwinter and I (and maybe horatios?) care at all about cricket (though, to be honest, to say that Zoe and I care about cricket is a ridiculous understatement!!), but this seems to have transcended the game itself...
It honestly feels like much of the country (much of the cricketing world) is wandering around in that awful haze of futile devastation, where nothing makes sense and it's all awful and sad and it doesn't even matter that we didn't know him, because we totally DID know him
I didn't know about this until your post...awful :(
I know the feeling you mention above because I'm a huge baseball fan and one of the top young prospects of the team I love was killed shortly after the season ended in a car accident. I didn't know I could feel so much grief for someone I didn't personally know.
This case is even worse because it happened DURING the sport...and I feel like sport is supposed to be our happy place where we get to forget about life. And sure we have lots of real feelings invested in them, but even those are..an escape? But this makes it harder because the sadness is all mixed up in the game you love. I feel like that's what I went through this fall!
I didn't know I could feel so much grief for someone I didn't personally know. Yep, this, pretty much. I mean, it's reassuringly human, but it's also kinda overwhelming. I've been having a bit of a think about my own reaction (spurred on by night spent randomly bursting into tears at the mere thought of what's happened), and I'm wondering if it's because it's 'safer' to mourn like this? In a big group? At least, for me.
Historically, I'm a bit of a closed book when it comes to emotions and real life. A good friend of mine died suddenly and unexpectedly following a stroke earlier this year at age 32, and I was devastated but held myself completely together and was there for my other friends and his family etc. I wonder if, because I don't have to do that here, it's just... easier? Less terrifying. Less... immediate? Also, being a clinical psychologist, I've gotten very good at controlling my emotions so that I don't bawl in front of patients, so, I don't know. I'm just trying to figure myself out here... don't mind me!
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Jarrod Kimber wrote a gorgeous piece that really made me even more sad: http://cricketwithballs.com/2014/11/27/eternal-63-vale-phillip-hughes/
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This should NOT be his job, hey?
Thank you for the link. Given I've just done the above (and am currently sitting here in a pool of my own tears and snot!!), I may as well go all out and read some other things likely to make me cry!
♥
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I wanted his 63* to be 100*. I know it means nothing, I really do. But this is all so unfinished. A 63* not out is a start, not and end. It isn’t the end of anything. It’s on the way to something bigger. Not an abyss. He had so far to go, in life and cricket, and a pointless cricket milestone might mean nothing in 50 years, but it meant something to him, and too much of this has ended too early. I want the scorers to change it. I want them to give him those 37 runs. I want someone to tell him that we all miss him already. And that we’ll all try look after the bowler. That we’ll look into new helmet designs. That we’ll not treat young players so haphazardly. That as long as cricket is known, so should the name of Phil Hughes. Phillip.
♥
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(The comment has been removed)
Such a freak accident.
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I didn't know about this until your post...awful :(
I know the feeling you mention above because I'm a huge baseball fan and one of the top young prospects of the team I love was killed shortly after the season ended in a car accident. I didn't know I could feel so much grief for someone I didn't personally know.
This case is even worse because it happened DURING the sport...and I feel like sport is supposed to be our happy place where we get to forget about life. And sure we have lots of real feelings invested in them, but even those are..an escape? But this makes it harder because the sadness is all mixed up in the game you love. I feel like that's what I went through this fall!
All I'm trying to say is, I'm just so sorry.
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Historically, I'm a bit of a closed book when it comes to emotions and real life. A good friend of mine died suddenly and unexpectedly following a stroke earlier this year at age 32, and I was devastated but held myself completely together and was there for my other friends and his family etc. I wonder if, because I don't have to do that here, it's just... easier? Less terrifying. Less... immediate? Also, being a clinical psychologist, I've gotten very good at controlling my emotions so that I don't bawl in front of patients, so, I don't know. I'm just trying to figure myself out here... don't mind me!
This case is ( ... )
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