Aussie golfer Jarrod Lyle dies aged 36
Australian golfer Jarrod Lyle has died from cancer aged 36.
It comes less than 10 days after he made the heartbreaking decision to move into palliative care after deciding his body could no longer handle active treatment.
He spent his last days at home with his wife Briony and two daughters.
Mrs Lyle said in a statement today: "It breaks my heart to tell everyone that Jarrod is no longer with us.”
Mrs Lyle said he died at 8:20pm Wednesday evening, surrounded by friends and family in Torquay.
"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'."
The 36-year-old golfer had been fighting his third cancer battle since last year, after there was a recurrence of acute myeloid leukaemia.
Before he passed away, Lyle issued a touching message to all his supporters.
In an interview with friend and Golf Australia media manager Mark Hayes, Jarrod said: “To have so many friends around the world, whether they’re spectators, golfers, marshals, whatever, to have that kind of support (at) every tournament, is a great feeling.
“It’s going to be hard to leave that behind, but they know that I love them, they know that all the fighting that I did 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, very lucky.”
The sad news about Jarrod, widely considered one of the most likeable figures in world sport, prompted an outpouring of love and support from around the world, especially Aussie golfers Adam Scott, Jason Day and Marc Leishman.