Heroes

HERO
1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: He was a local hero when he saved the drowning child.

After listening to a phone-in on this subject this morning, I thought it would be a nice idea to see where people stand on this subject. We all have people in our lives, or global figures, who have had profound effects on who we are, how we behave, act and react. But how many of them are true heroes? During our lifetime how many times have we described someone as a hero who would actually fit the description laid out in the beginning of this blog? Is that definition of a hero the only criteria to be regarded as a hero? Do heroes even exist, or are they just people who, through choice or circumstance, find themselves acting in a way that we wouldn't necessarily see ourselves behaving? Are they just acting out of duty?

During my life I have had heroes, at least I thought most of them were during a given period. Over the years I have re-evaluated my thoughts and come to the conclusion that it was more a case of simple admiration, rather than anything more substantial or reverential. The earliest "hero" I can remember was Steve Coppell, Manchester United's graceful winger from the late 70s. I knew nothing about him as a man so this was obviously misplaced, I just appreciated him as a player, nothing more than that. There must have been something about him, even back in the day, as I still have the utmost respect for him as a manager and a pundit.

Flawed characters also seem to play a part when it comes to adoration. Over the years I have had a fascination with people like Alex Higgins, Phil Lynott, Kurt Cobain. George Best. Each of them could arguably be described as a genius, but there was also a darkness to their character. Phil Lynott was my first genuine hero, to this day I still hold him up as the standard bearer for song-writing/story telling. The strength of character to deal with being one of the few coloured people growing up in Dublin in the 60s, breaking down the barriers and pre-conceptions of rock music where black artists are in the minority. There was a less savory side to the man too. Selfishness, drug addiction, serial womaniser. Not the ideal character traits I would like to see in a hero for my children but they were part of what made the man into the legend, the icon that I loved when I was growing up.

Outside of the obvious few people who transcend their chosen careers, I no longer have too many people who I would consider a hero. Forget the likes of Mandela who are global icons. It goes without saying someone of that standing is a hero to most people. I want something smaller, more personal, something to feel a real connection. The surgeon who performed my posterior lumbar fusion is one of these people. By operating on me he gave me my life back. Yes, he was "just doing his job" but there is something so admirable about a person who puts in the work and dedication to become so skilled as to be able to perform complex spinal surgery, or brain surgery, become a cancer specialist, or a nurse who will spend a whole working day caring for the elderly and infirm. I can not stress enough how wonderful my surgeon was for me. I couldn't walk more than 200 yards on a bad day. The last 2 months prior to my operation I wouldn't leave the house with a walking stick for fear of falling flat on my face. I was unable to lift my daughters or play football with my son. The surgery was incredible, I was able to spend three weeks walking around Walt Disney World in Florida just eight weeks after the surgery was done. Amazing man

As public figures, I can not look any further than the collective of Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready and Matt Cameron. Pearl Jam. Forgetting their music for a moment (I may have a bias when discussing their contribution to the music world) they do so much in the fields of charity, good causes, injustice, human rights, environmental issues. After the release of their second album "Vs" they abandoned the use of plastics on all future compact disc cases, opting for cardboard packaging to help with climate change. They spent almost two years practically unable to perform a live show in America when they boycotted Ticketmaster due to their overpricing and monopolising of concert venues. They even appeared in front of congress to argue their case. Eddie, for years has campaigned for justice in the case of The West Memphis Three. Mike McCready has fought vigorously to get the laws changed in America to help Crohn's Disease sufferers. The Restroom Access Law allows Crohn's sufferers special permission to use employee-only restrooms in public buildings. A massive step.

The list of causes that the band support is too numerous to mention. Here are five men who, instead of revelling in their fame and personal fortunes, use their names to bring influence and attention to people and places that need help. Nothing is done for their own self interest, it is for a greater good. Selfless. A great example of this is with Roger Daltrey's annual Teenage Cancer charity. Eddie appeared at one of the shows a few years ago to raise awareness and money. Some months later, Daltrey was present at the opening of a new teenage cancer wing in the North of England(sorry, I can not remember the name of the place)and completely unannounced Ed turned up. At his own expense he flew in from Seattle just to be there to lend his support for the great work the charity does

There are countless examples of this kind of thing. An example of this is the blog I posted earlier regarding Stone's closeness to the family of one of the children who tragically lost their lives at the Roskilde Festival. Compassion, passion, an absolute belief in doing what is right, ethical and moral, regardless of whether press cameras are present to publicise their work. I will not go on about them any longer in this blog. I am sure I will mention Pearl Jam again at some point in the future.

My final words on this must be saved for someone who I love dearly. My better half. She is the most wonderful, loving, caring person I have ever known. She is a true hero to me. We have been together 7 years now. When we met she had three teenage daughters. She had done the mothering thing, done it pretty much on her own for 13 years and done it well. She has since given me three children. It takes one hell of a woman to willingly go through all those sleepless nights and endless nappies and dirty clothes again. She done it. During my 2 years before the back op she had to cope with our children and deal with me being incapable of anything but the most basic of light duties around the house. In the weeks and months after the op she had to do everything for me. Wash me, dress me, cook for me, carry everything I needed as I was unable to do anything for 3 months after the operation. She was my chauffeur for about 8 months as I was not allowed to drive. All of this with never so much as a mutter under her breath about how hard she was working for us. We went to Florida eight weeks after the op, with me on crutches. Five suitcases, three children and a pushchair. My better half had to deal with it all. Around the Disney parks it was her that had to do all the chasing around to prevent the children harrassing the 6ft tall wildlife. She was everything to us on that holiday and I will never forget that.

She is an incredible woman, and I idolise her. It is that simple. She is my hero and I do not imagine I could ever find someone more worthy of that title than her. She is an amazing mother and wonderful partner. She has brought up three amazing and beautiful girls and she is doing a brilliant job with our three too. I couldn't or wouldn't want to be without her.