Hope springs eternal

I am not a great sports fan though there have been a couple of sports stories in the news recently that have touched me more deeply than I would have expected. In March Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch with a heart attack during the FA Cup quarter-final match between Bolton and Tottenham. It took 78 minutes for the 24 year-old's heart to start beating again unaided. His recovery has been spectacular and last month he was able to make an emotional return to watch the re-scheduled match where he received a rapturous reception from an appreciative crowd.

This year's London Marathon was marred by the tragic death of Clair Squires, a 30 year-old runner from Leicestershire, who collapsed 1 mile from the finish line of the 26 mile race. A keen charity fundraiser who had only recently completed a climb on Mount Kilimanjaro she had set herself the target of raising £500 for the Samaritans charity through completing the race. Her untimely death struck a nerve with the public around the world who have since donated over £1 million towards the charity via her website.

Such tragedies are not supposed to happen to people in the prime of their life and you can only marvel at the way that people have responded to these 2 incidents. The fact that the response has been global is testament to the power of TV, the internet and the interest that these sporting events engender. I am particularly please that the Samaritans will benefit from the donations. The organisation may not have the high profile of the major health charities though their work is every bit as important and their staff just as dedicated.

The question that has crossed my mind is just why these 2 individuals should have captured the imagination is such a way. There have been other runners who have died during previous London Marathons and there have been others who have collapsed during football matches. Only last month Piermario Morosini, a 25 year-old Italian who had represented his country at under-21 level, collapsed and died during a Serie B match at Pescara. With due respect to those who have suffered none have prompted such a universal outpouring of grief and support.

The only reason that I can attribute to the Fabrice Muamba and Clair Squires stories is the predicament we now find ourselves in globally. With world finances in a mess, large parts of the world affected by armed conflict, political unrest, drought and famine and a great many of us facing financial hardship and uncertainty in the workplace it is perhaps understandable that we should reach out for any piece of good news. Maybe we need stories like these to bring a bit of balance to a crazy world, to focus our minds on what is really important. For all of us life is short, it is up to us to make the most of it in the time that we are on this planet, to take the opportunities presented to us and enjoy them as best we can, even when there are so many obstacles placed in our path.

I would like to think that the majority of people are intrinsically good-natured. With so much doom and despondency around just now it is reassuring that so many people have been so moved by these stories that they have been prompted to re-act positively.