Who Is Next?

I’ve had a love affair for decades. 

It started in primary school when Fridays were ‘sports days’. After lunch the buses would arrive and we pulled on our ‘armor’, the socks, the boots and jerseys and travelled to battle against the other schools in the district. We felt like knights and warriors.

High school just added to this long affair.  PE classes added a variety of experiences and sports. There was no way, apart from near death, that you would miss school on sports or PE days.

When I left school there was really only one career option that appealed to me. Teaching PE and sports. About 20 years ago I retired from teaching and started a sports photography company. Photographing a variety of sports and capturing images of all that I loved. 

As a player, then as a teacher, a coach, a manager and a photographer I’ve had my sports love affair for longer than I care to think. My children also inherited the ‘sports gene’. From local to national and international events we’ve all competed, coached, watched or photographed them all. 

DO NOT stand in front of the TV when the Wallabies are playing. In fact even conversations are frowned upon unless it involves food or yelling obscenities at the screen.

We’ve had the odd injury or three. The normal bumps and bruises associated with competition. Some more serious than others. We watched on as our heroes came and went. Some,because age took its toll, others forced out because of major injuries. 

But these injury retirements seemed rare. Certainly death on the field was even rarer. In my over half a century of involvement I have only seen 2 deaths in competition. Both of these unfortunate incidents came while I was photographing older competitors in Masters events. 

Sports of all kinds have given immense amounts of pleasure to my friends and family. Time is measured by sporting seasons or the next major event. Four year blocks of time between Olympics or Rugby World Cups interspersed with Commonwealth Games, AFL, NRL, Super Rugby, BledisloeCup, NFL, NBA and more. For me it has provided pleasure andincome for many years.

And then we had this year.

Again and again and again I have watched athletes and officials in their prime collapse on the field. Many don’t recover. 

FIFA keep a list dating back to the 1800s of players or officials who passed away in competition. This year they suspended the count.

Today I was sent a clip of athletes and officials collapsing in competitions around the world. My love affair is taking lives.

Basketball referees, female cricket players, basketball players, table tennis players, soccer players, tennis players. More of these ‘incidents’ in 4 months since vaccinations started than in the last 20 years.

Let me state that again. More of these incidents in 4 MONTHS since VACCINATION started than in the previous 20 YEARS!! 

Italy, Germany, Denmark, Hungary, Netherlands, Egypt, Belgium, Austria, France, Turkey, Venezuela, Luxemburg, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Augsburg, Saintes, Thailand, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Spain. The list goes on and on in countries around the world.

Dutch Olympic speed skating champion, Kjelt Nuis, is seriously ill in hospital after his vaccinations with heart problems.

A female vaccinated professional soccer player AND her brother, also vaccinated and a professional player, died from cardiac arrests within 2 months of each other.

A 17 year old footballer dies of heart failure. 

A 13 year old boy had his heart stop while playing football but was fortunately saved by a defibrillator.

An FC Nantes footballer suffers a heart attack and is only now slowly coming out of a coma.

In Chaman, A player died of a heart attack during a football game.  

Another player was saved by the timely intervention of his team mates in Treviso after he suffered a heart attack during the  game. 

Michael Englebert, 37, dies following a heart attack after his match with Ortho.

A North Jersey rugby player is in a critical condition after suffering a heart attack during a game.

Markis Kido, a gold medalist in Olympic, World Cup and World Championship Doubles Badminton dies of a heart attack in June.

Under 18 player, Diego Ferchaud lost consciousness with a few minutes remaining in his game. The 16 year old was supported by firefighters after suffering a heart attack and is recovering.

A 20 year old female athlete suffered a heart attack at the end of her race in September. 

Dietmar Gladow suffers a heart attack and dies. 

A Philadelphia high school athlete dies of a ‘sudden cardiac incident.’

12 year old basketballer dies while training. 

17 yr old rugby player, a marathon runner, an American football teen, a 45 year old sports manager, a NHL Goalie to miss entire season with heart condition, 14 year old Gold Coast girl suffers heart attack,  NFL players, hockey players, Ironmen, triathletesand the list goes on and on and on and on.

Surprisingly, a large part of the population acts as if sportspeople have ‘always’ collapsed during games. Children having strokes is totally normal. We are witnessing a very powerful and extraordinary level of denial. These numbers are unprecedented. 

I love sport. I will watch pretty much anything. I am an Olympic and Commonwealth Games armchair critic. Kurling, got that one covered. Diving, gymnastics, rugby, skiing, half pipe, downhill, snowboard and more. Sports I only watch every 4 years I am an instant expert in along with half the country. I love it.

But the sport I fell in love with all those years ago is now taking athletes in their prime. Some before their prime. They are all ages and otherwise fit and healthy. Over one hundred additional deaths reported to me just today.

I love sport but I’m finding it hard to watch these days. In the back of my mind I wonder, who’s next?

From January to October, citing official data, in the UK, EU and USA Covid 19 vaccine trials, , 40,679 dead. Over 6 and a half million injuries reported. More deaths have been attributed to the Covid vaccines in 6 months than in the previous 20 years of ALL vaccines combined.

A study by the prestigious Harvard University estimated only between 1% and 10% of adverse reactions are actually reported. The raw numbers are bad enough but if the Harvard study is even remotely true these numbers are staggering.

A doctor on the Gold Coast just last weekend confirmed that reporting adverse reactions is way too time consuming. It can take up to 30 minutes per report so he just stopped. Many of his colleagues do the same. “We just don’t have that much time” he said.

It’s usual in vaccine trials that if there are 25 to 50 deaths the trial is stopped. Um, hullo.

Who is reading these numbers? In sports alone there have been way more than enough to stop the trial. While I’m talking specifically about athletes here what about the rest of the population. 

13 students in a small school in Renmark, South Australia, reported heart conditions after vaccination. That’s 13 students in one school!

What is going on? 

My love affair is turning into a nightmare. Despite the limited coverage by mainstream media a large number of athletes at the Tokyo Games refused to be vaccinated. “We have to watch everything that goes into our mouth”, said one. “Why would I put some untried, untested drug that I don’t know the long term effects of in my body”. Fair call I think!

Novak Djokovic and Kyrie Irving are two world class athletes who are outspoken in their criticism of ‘the jab’. Both are prepared to miss events and in Irving’s case he is prepared to miss an entire NBA season, costing him millions of dollars, rather than get the vaccine. Djokovic may miss the Australian Open this year. Not only costing him potentially millions of dollars but a shot at the coveted and extremely rare calendar Grand Slam.  Winning the Australian, French, Wimbldon and the US Open in one year. These players have serious concerns which are, unfortunately, being backed up by growing numbers of athletes deaths and injuries around the world.

I will still watch sport with enthusiasm. I will still enjoy competing when I can. I will still point my cameras at the action.

But these days, there will always be that one question in the back of my mind. 

Who is next?