Cancer tragedy breaks Carrie Bickmore: In tears on The Project
Thursday, August 8, marks one year since Australia’s most beloved golfer Jarrod Lyle passed away after a lengthy battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
Carrie Bickmore had an emotional chat with Lyle’s widow – who he leaves behind along with their two daughters, Lusi and Jemma – Briony, which left her in tears afters she revealed Bickmore was on her mind when Jarrod passed.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be long for him,” Briony said.
“He was in a coma and had been for a couple of days, so we all made a point of being there and we put the television on … and put the bed down and it was Anh Do’s Brush With Fame and it was yourself.
“It was the episode of you, and you got to the point where you were talking about sometimes you see Olly (Bickmore’s son) from behind and he reminds you of Greg (Lange, Bickmore’s former husband who also died after a cancer battle) … and Jarrod’s aunty said to me, ‘Bri it’s time’, and he died.”
The pair shared a painful moment after embracing in a hug, with tears streaming down their faces.
It was Jarrod's third time battling the disease in 2017, which made it even harder for their family.
After beating cancer twice, the golfing star hit the road again, not long before he was struck down again.
It was then, Briony said, Lyle realised the battle had taken a hard toll on his golfing career, his body and his family.
“We made the decision to start palliative care and drove home early that morning and had to wait till Lusi woke up and I had to say to her that the medicine is not working and that daddy is going to die,” Briony told Carrie.
“It was immediate sadness for her, which I had never seen before.
“She walked into his hospital room, which she had been into so many times before, and just walked over and held his hand.
“In the corner of his room there is a little whiteboard and there is a section that said do you have any questions for the doctor? And she wrote, ‘Why isn’t the medicine working?'”
Radio host Andy Lee told The Project he admired Jarrod's attitude about life.
“You would never hear Jarrod complain,” Andy said.
“Jarrod was no fuss, super Australian – which I love – and when it came to my golf game I would ask him something about technique and he would say, ‘I don’t bloody know just hit the f***ing thing'.”
Jarrod's autobiography is set to be released this month.