Golf gathering honours Jeff’s memory

THERE was no indication when Jeff Wall left home for a run in late August 2017 that he would never return.

Jeff’s wife, Wendy, said he had stopped to talk to his friend Ian and then turned around and, without any warning, collapsed on the ground.

After nine days in Geelong Hospital, Jeff passed away at the age of 61.

“Jeff was always an active person playing golf, football, walking and surfing,” Ms Wall said.

“The sudden death of Jeff was a shock to everyone and we are still coming to terms with why this happened to a fit person.”

Ms Wall says while her family will grieve for a long time to come, a small group of Jeff’s friends have found a special way to honour his memory.

In December 2017, friends got together to play golf in honour of their friend for whom golf was a regular Saturday morning activity.

The event provides time to chat, share stories and memories of their friend.

It has also become an opportunity for people to talk about their own health issues.

“It’s important for everyone, any age or gender to talk about how they are feeling and know help is there,” Ms Wall said.

“We have learnt an important part of grieving is speaking the person’s name, it’s hard but important to talk about how you are feeling.

“I hope other people find it helpful to talk about their own loss too.”

The game is open to men and women and numbers have grown over the past years to approximately 70 friends who play golf and raise funds for the Heart Foundation.

Since it started, five more people in their network have also experienced heart trouble.

“A couple of them said if it wasn’t for Jeff they wouldn’t have gone to the doctors in the first place,” Ms Wall said.

According to the Heart Foundation, more than four million Australians live with cardiovascular disease and it is responsible for one in four deaths.

But thanks to research, medications, interventions and community awareness, deaths have been declining over the past 10 years.

Ms Wall hopes the event will raise awareness about heart disease so others will not go through the same experience.

“Hopefully it encourages people to pick up the phone and make a doctor’s appointment if they aren’t feeling right,” she said.

For more information on reducing the risk of heart disease, head to heartfoundation.org.au.