Irish middle-distance runner Mark English has expressed the anguish he felt as news reached him of the Berkeley balcony tragedy which took the lives of six Irish students on a J1 summer in California, two of which were classmates of his in medical school.
English won silver for Ireland in the 800 meters at the 2015 European Indoor Athletics Championships in March, and recently secured his place in the same event at next year's Olympic Games in Rio, but in an honest interview with Sky Sports he revealed devastated he was by the news when it reached him:
I was involved in a day of filming with Sky Sports in Dublin. The whole operation was precision personified. Everything was timed so that the crew had their job completed in time for their flight home to the UK that evening.
But there was little time to absorb the devastating news I received during filming that day of the death of two of my medical school classmates in the balcony accident in Berkeley, California. The accident claimed the lives of six students and leaving another seven in a critical condition. The magnitude of this tragedy caused me to stop in my tracks and think.
Were it not for my athletics I may well have been out there myself on a J1 Visa. Less than a year ago I had shared a class holiday with Lorcan Miller (RIP) and Eimear Walsh (RIP) in Croatia. They were two of the brightest, affable and most vivacious people I had ever met.
English continued to explain how the tragic events put everything into perspective for him:
Events like this put injuries and poor performances into perspective.
I returned from the European team championships on June 23 just in time to attend the funerals of both classmates. My own worries paled into insignificance. Athletics is not life and death. In September our class will be missing two vibrant young people who never got a chance to fulfil their potential.
In the light of all that has happened so far this summer I realise that it is important to live life to the full. To see that glass half full rather than half empty. There is still half the summer left.
There is still time to improve on my form and set my injury straight. I will try to embrace the advice of the writer Samuel Beckett
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.
Inspiring words from English, to whom we wish all the best in his preparations for next summer's Olympic Games.
via DonegalDaily.com
