‘My time was short’: Golfer Jarrod Lyle dies after ending cancer treatment

Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died at the age of 36, his devastated wife has confirmed in a moving statement.

The sportsman, who decided to end all cancer treatment to spend his final days with his two daughters and wife, passed away at 8:20pm on Wednesday night. Golf Australia issued a statement from his wife Briony on Thursday morning, explaining that Lyle had lost his cancer battle.

Writing an emotional letter, Briony explained that her husband was surrounded by family and friends when he passed away.

“It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us. He passed away peacefully at 8.20pm last night, having spent his final week in Torquay among his family and close friends,” she wrote.

She explained that his six-year-old daughter Lusi and two-year-old daughter Gemma were filled with grief and must now live their lives without the greatest father they could have asked for.

“At the same time, we have been blessed and overwhelmed with the messages and actions of support from around the world and feel comforted that Jarrod was able to happily impact so many people throughout his life. Our humble thanks to you all.”

Briony said that Lyle was overwhelmed by the kind and generous acts the world had shown him in his final days and even wanted to provide a message to everyone who reached out during his battle.

Read more: Jarrod Lyle thanks fans in emotional recording after ceasing cancer treatment

“He asked that I provide a simple message: `Thanks for your support, it meant the world. My time was short, but if I’ve helped people think and act on behalf of those families who suffer through cancer, hopefully it wasn’t wasted’.

“We will hold an intimate and private family service in the coming days. There will be a public memorial service at The Sands in Torquay at a date to be announced later.”

She also explained that her husband wanted donations to be made to charity Challenge, in place of gifts and flowers.

Lyle had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia three times. He battled and beat the cancer in 1998 and in 2012, but sadly in July last year, the cancer returned for a third time. This time, his body wasn’t able to fight off the disease.

Lyle’s good friend and host of golfing podcast ‘Inside the Ropes’, Mark Hayes, has now aired a message Lyle recordered for his fans last week. The recording was intended for a book that is being written about Lyle’s life, but with permission from Lyle and his family, Hayes aired it on his show last week.

“I feel like I’m the luckiest golfer going around,” Lyle could be heard saying in the recording. “Because so many people took an interest in me and took an interest in my fight.

“To have so many friends around the world, whether they’re spectators, whether they’re golfers, whether they’re marshals, whatever. To have that kind of support to go to every tournament is the greatest feeling. It’s going to be hard to leave that behind.”

“They know that I love them, they know that all the fighting that I did do was to get back out and play golf again. To have the support from all those people was just a tremendous feeling. It’s going to be hard, but at some point it’s going to happen and they’ll get on with their lives and I just feel very lucky.”

Do you have a message for Jarrod Lyle’s family?