Jonah Lomu

One of the most  famous All Black players, has died at the age of 40. Jonah Lomu (a legend) died of nephrotic syndrome.The news was a shock to the rest of New Zealand. He was known as a loyal and inspirational person  to younger people.

Looking Back: Rugby Courier

New Zealand's Sevens Star Eric Rush invited Jonah for a game of touch and was impressed by the way that the then  14 year old could play. He invited Jonah to a sevens match in Singapore.

Lomu played in the Rugby World Cup in 1995 and scored seven tries in five matches; two in the match against Ireland in Johannesburg, one in the quarter final against Scotland in Loftus Versfeld and four tries in the semi-finals against England in Newlands. In the world cup for 1999 against Samoa,  Lomu scored one of All Blacks’ nine tries.

Health Issues

At the end of 1995 Jonah was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome which is a serious kidney problem. 2003 in May his doctors  informed Jonah that he was to attend dialysis three times a week. The side effects for Jonah’s dialysis treatment led to severe damage to his feet and legs, not only this but he was also warned that he would have to be going on a wheelchair if a kidney transplant was not going to be performed sooner. Coming to the end of July 2004 it was heard that Jonah had finally had a kidney transplant on July 28 here in Auckland. The Kidney transplant came from the Wellington radio presenter Grant Kereama.

The Unexpected Death

Early morning on the 18 November Jonah Lomu died in his Auckland home. The night before he died Jonah and his family had just finished returning from a short vacation in Dubai. He had been receiving dialysis on his visit in Britain where he was involved in heavy promotional work during the RWC 2015.

The first public service was held in his church home in Auckland Mangere with Jonah’s family and friends.

Lomu was added onto the International Rugby Hall of Fame on 9 October 2007. He lent his name to various video games including the ‘Jonah Lomu Game’ and ‘Rugby Challenge’. He was also portrayed by Isaac Feau'nati in ‘Invictus’ which shows Nelson Mandela’s journey with the South African Rugby Team in the 1995 world cup. Jonah Lomu will be remembered to the whole world as ‘Rugby Union’s Biggest Drawcard’.