There were emotional scenes in south Auckland as Jonah Lomu’s first public memorial was held at a Tongan Methodist church he attended growing up.

In attendance were his mother and a number of the Lomu family, the memorial attended by around 700 people. In amongst the emotional tributes one childhood friend lightened the mood a little with a story from Jonah’s childhood:

“Those of us who knew Jonah know he’s got some dry jokes. But he laughs loud at those jokes.”

“Back then, BMX was cool. But no one could afford one. Most people in Mangere are broke, you know. But Jonah got one, a tiny one and he couldn’t sit down on it, this big kid.”

He told how Jonah would have to stand pedalling, because his knees couldn’t fit under the handlebars. In the same era, Rebook sneakers were cool, he said.

“But in Mangere, we couldn’t afford those either.”

Somehow, however, Jonah got a pair of shoes. The problem was, they were too small so he ended up cutting the fronts out to fit his big feet in.

“That guy Jonah Lomu man, he was a sight. But for him it was still BMX, still Reebok.”

RIP big fella, I think this one from Zapiro is a good place to finish.

[source:nzherald]