Justin Langer: How the Dalai Lama and two missed calls taught me to fight for change
Source: The West Australian, Saturday 20 August – Page 28-20
Author: Justin Langer
Rarely does a person walk into your presence and make every cell in your body tingle. It’s happened twice in my life. The first was meeting the Queen at Buckingham Palace in 1997. An incredible moment. Maybe a story for another day.
The second was a mystical experience that is hard to intellectualise, but it was so real it took my breath away. Sitting on a Qantas flight, a stewardess asked if I would mind moving back a few rows. After shifting seats, four of the toughest, but oddly serene looking men walked on to the plane. Next thing, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is sitting two seats in front of me. When I first saw him, a shiver washed over me like a breeze moving though my body. It was transcendent, but so real.
A few days later a friend, Graham Laitt, invited me to an event run by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, to listen to the Dalai Lama speak. Not only was I invited, but I was one of only two people chosen to ask His Holiness a question of my choosing. What do I ask a man who had such a profound impact on me only a few days before? A man who I had also read about and used as a valuable resource though my life-long journey of meditation.
Nervous as I had ever been in my life, the question I settled on was: “In this world we live in, with so many incredible causes and charities, how do we decide where to spend our time, service and resources?”
His answer, after pondering for a moment or two, was: “Education is the strongest form of charity.”
In a nutshell, it reminded me of, “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”
My mind reverted to the Dalai Lama over the last two weeks or so when I have met and spoken to several people and organizations who are involved in various charities and foundations, particularly those dedicated to research. Like education, I am learning that research, while not necessarily “sexy”, is so fundamentally important to so many areas that can be life changing.
This week the Ben Beale Laboratory was launched. Ben was my best friend. I say “was” because Ben is no longer with us. Like seeing the Dalai Lama, I will never forget the moment in 2017 when I heard about Ben’s death. I was literally following a doctor up the stairs into my ailing Mum’s bedroom. He was just about to talk to our family about how palliative care was going to work. Mum had ovarian cancer and was in her last stages of her life. But when walking up the stairs, my phone pinged twice in 10 seconds. Hhmmm, strange, two messages from two close mates. As desperate as the communication was from the doctor about my beautiful Mum, I decided to turn left instead of veering right into Mum’s room. Standing on the balcony, I returned the first missed call.
“Ben’s just died mate.”
Smack. That tingling feeling returned. But this time not from seeing someone incredible, but from hearing something horrible. I had to use every instinct to stop myself collapsing in a heap.
“What do you mean Ben’s just died?”
Heart attack.
A similar moment is tattooed into my soul. A phone call. This time my wife Sue DID collapse. Right in front of me on the kitchen floor. Her best friend, Nicky Davey, had just died suddenly aged 36. Heart condition we found out later.
In the last few months my friends Rod Marsh and Shane Warne have died of heart attacks. Other cricketers like Dean Jones (stroke) and Sam Gannon have followed the same sad paths. Darren Lehmann and Ryan Campbell were luckier. Heart attack survivors. What I have learnt is that heart disease is Australia’s biggest killer, and it is not just older men — but also the leading cause of death for people aged between 45-64. It’s also the biggest killer of women, with 24 women losing their lives to heart disease every day.
The Ben Beale Lab has been set up at the University of Western Australia and will be run by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute. Supported by family, friends and generous business associates, the fundraising campaign has raised more than $1.8 million for heart research. Ben’s wife Sarah, who has driven this legacy, says she hopes it will prevent other families from suffering unnecessary heartache.
“Through the generosity and support of the Group of Hearts, we have been able to not only honour Ben, but extend his love of life through this research to other families,” she said.
“We have learnt first-hand the destruction that the death of a loved one can cause.”
Professor Livia Hool, chair of the Western Australian Cardiovascular Research Alliance and head of the institute’s WA hub, says she was humbled by what had been achieved.
“We are proud to partner with the Beale family on such an incredibly personal mission. Far too many Australians lose their lives to heart disease, and we owe it to Ben and the Beale family to do better,” Professor Hool, who oversees a team of 13 in WA, says.
She also adds: “Why do we research? Research drives change and progress in society. Curiosity-driven research leads to discoveries that shape a civilised society.
“It is creation of new knowledge that leads to advancements in medicine and health, engineering technology, discovery in space, new business models, social change.”
As I’ve learnt, at rare points in your life something will make your body tingle.
Because of people like Livia, and through life’s experiences, I have been taught that so much more needs to be done in the research space. Philanthropy is crucial, but in many instances it simply isn’t enough. These incredible doctors and researchers also need the support of the Government to prevent tragedy.
For more than two decades I have been proud patron of the Children’s Leukaemia and Cancer Research Foundation (now the Child Cancer Research Foundation). In that time research has helped flip survival rates of children with various cancers from 20 per cent to up to 95 per cent.
The incomparable Fiona Stanley once told me, if your child was to ever get diagnosed with cancer or leukaemia, Perth was the place for it to happen. She said it with humility and compassion, but also with such authority that I now forever feel hope for those innocent souls who have their lives turned upside down by those fateful words, “You have cancer”.
CEO of the CCRF Andrea Alexander told me this week: “You can’t prevent childhood cancer. Research is the only way to save lives.”
And the survival statistics prove Andrea’s words are true.
We’re getting there with cancer, now we need to do the same with hearts. But to do that we require further funding for research, education and support for the brightest minds here in WA. As I’ve learnt, at rare points in your life something will make your body tingle. For me, it’s been meeting people like the Queen and the Dali Lama, and through shock personal experiences like Ben and Nicky passing away. Hopefully, if and when it happens again, it will be from meeting, not losing, someone who is incredible.