Jarrod Lyle’s wife Briony continues her late husband’s legacy
Reflecting on the death of her husband Jarrod from cancer three months ago is clearly still incredibly difficult for Briony Lyle, who is at this week's Australian Open at The Lakes in Sydney continuing to raise money for families dealing with cancer.
"I am okay, I am okay at the moment," she told the Australian Open website.
"It will be a tough week I think. Elements will be really tough, but we have always really enjoyed it. It is odd to be here without him really."
External Link: YouTube: Briony Lyle speaks about her late husband Jarrod
Twelve months ago Briony Lyle was alongside Jarrod at the Australian Open, raising money for families doing it tough, with their bright yellow Leuk the Duck products.
"He looked well [at that time]," she said.
"It reminds me of how much has changed in a really short space of time."
Jarrod Lyle and his family decided to place the former professional golfer into palliative care in August, two decades after he had first been diagnosed with cancer.
External Link: Instagram: #doingitforjarrod
The disease eventually claimed his life at the age of 36, but not before the former US PGA Tour professional had risen to global fame for his optimism in the face of cancer and his loveable, likeable personality.
This week Briony Lyle made the tough call to brave her own emotional challenges by continuing the movement.
"I am hoping we can inspire anybody who knows somebody going through their own cancer journey that they will just reach out to them, or cook them a meal or mow their lawn," she said.
"We are in a Leuk the Duck Tent trying to sell Leuk the Duck products and all the proceeds of that go back to Challenge, to continue all the work that Jarrod was really passionate about with kids and families going through cancer.
"On top of that we are launching this hashtag (#doitforjarrod) campaign.
"Whether it is in Jarrod's name or not if doesn't matter but if we can flood social media with photos of people doing it for Jarrod, then I think that is a really powerful message."
Jarrod Lyle's inspiring story to go into print
As well as continuing her late husband's charity work, Briony Lyle said she had been working on a book set to be released next year, made from a number of his recordings.
"He was always waiting to achieve something phenomenal on the golf course to kind be the pinnacle of his career and … the catalyst for actually writing his story," she said.
"When he did receive that diagnosis we had to speed things up a bit, because the urgency was to get his voice recorded, because it's his story.
"There was some talk that we would potentially look at releasing for Christmas but it is just too soon. I can't even read it at the moment, so we are looking at August of next year."
As Briony Lyle comes to terms with Jarrod's passing, she revealed that helping their young children through the process was a daily conversation.
"I think they are [doing okay], I have never been through this before," she said.
"It is tough having a conversation with (daughter) Gemma every day about where is daddy. [She asks] 'Where is daddy? Can we see him again? We like daddy, don't we?' Yes, we like daddy?
"It is all very normal for her but it's a tough reminder every day to have to verbalise it.
"At some point it will be normal words for her and she will actually have an understanding of what happened."
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ABC .net
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