Book description
Moving, thrilling, inspirational: the autobiography of Jim Stynes.
In July 2009, Jim Stynes was diagnosed with cancer and given less
than a year to live. The diagnosis caught him by surprise - he was 42,
healthy, fit - and he didn't have time for illness: he was director of
a foundation for young people, president of Melbourne Football Club,
father of two primary school-aged kids, husband of Sam. Knowing his
odds weren't good, but with so much to lose, Jim put everything he had
into trying to beat the disease.
He was well equipped to beat the odds - he'd been getting the most
out of himself in every aspect of life since
his childhood in Dublin. Jim's ability to use mind over matter and
his will to succeed gave him two extra years on the prognosis. He had
more than 25 tumours removed from his brain and stomach, and defied
expectations time and time again.
This book is Jim's legacy. Unflinching in its detail, Jim talks
about what he found out about himself when things were at their worst
- about what really counts when you're stacking it all up. It's a
moving, inspiring story of a life lived fearlessly.
Jim Stynes was born in Dublin in 1966. He won an All-Ireland Minor
Football championship with Dublin before moving to Melbourne to play
Australian rules football as part of the AFL's 'Irish experiment'. He
went on to become a legend of the game. In 2009 he was diagnosed with
metastatic melanoma, and after a courageous fight he died in March 2012.
