Oshane Murray: When The Unthinkable Happens

When something horrific or unthinkable happens and changes the course of our lives, our instant reaction is to look back to basically see if we did enough, or ask ourselves if we could have done things differently. Reason being those hours, days and years we can't get back. Every new day is the first day in the rest of our lives.

I don't think Patricia McIntosh or Luke Murray will be asking themselves anything or looking back based on the unfortunate circumstances befalling their son OSHANE ALTON MURRAY January 30, 2013.

Oshane in my view is an accomplished Jamaican Tae Kwon Do athlete despite his young age. Coaches Jason McKay and Claude Chin would attest to this in an instant. While I could not even perform a kick to hurt a fly, this young man racked up Tae Kwon Do trophies as if he was addicted to them.

I first heard of Oshane's accident on the news, and almost instantly had a headache. My first thought was on his parents (being a parent myself), since he was a young university student at The University of Technology UTECH. He was performing outside his customary discipline (Tae Kwon Do) and hurt himself (spinal injury causing no movement in his lower body) doing a cheerleading manoeuvre at school. He was attempting a summersault when he missed his step and landed badly on his head at a very acute angle. It is no stretch of the imagination to feel the distress of his Tae Kwon Do coaches; the agony of his parents needs no description.

Some timelines may elude me but I will try to give you an idea of what this young boy achieved while still an adolescent. He was just starting to compete as an adult when the unthinkable happened.

US Open Junior Champion - Orlando Florida - July 2010

US Open Champion - Orlando Florida - July 2011

ITF Pan Am Bronze Medallist - Quebec City, Canada - June 2012

Member of Jamaica Combined team winning CAC games - Orlando Florida - July 2012

ISKA Middleweight World Champion - Valkenberg, Holland - November 2012

As you can clearly see from the results above, this was no ordinary athlete.

Oshane attended the following schools:

• VT Evangelistic Basic School
• Tarrant Primary School
• Calabar High School
• UTECH majoring in Electrical Engineering

Oshane is an example to all including myself to not waste your God given time and talent while you have it. Oshane was not even 20 years old at the time of his accident and look at all he achieved. For that fact and for that fact alone, the notion of what could have been does not come to my mind. What readily comes to my mind is wow, he achieved all that? Oshane lived a lifetime in an instant and anyone who plays any form of sport can appreciate that. Many people have competed for years without that level of success.

My heart goes out to his parents as I know this is one of the worst situations for a parent to be in; the feeling of helplessness must be stifling. Nevertheless, I am sure the pride they have in their son's achievements may alleviate some of the pain they are now feeling.

Oshane is currently on Ward 5 at the University Hospital of the West Indies and I am praying for a miracle.



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© 2013 Antonio Bell. All rights reserved

Disclaimer

All the commentary posted in this publication are my personal view(s) and do not reflect the view(s) of any Association, Federation or Governing Body.