By Nicky Styris
Joeli Vidiri shared a unique connection with Jonah Lomu, both bustling wingers, both suffering from kidney disease.
But Vidiri can smile when he remembers his special friend because that's what Lomu told him to do.
"Just get on with it and enjoy what's in front of you. Don't feel down about yourself or feel sorry for yourself, that's life and you just have to enjoy," Vidiri said.
Enjoy life is what Lomu did, regardless of the pressures of stardom and ill health. He put his family first, a quality Sir Graham Henry truly admired.
"His connection with his kids was special. I thought he didn't want them to be under pressure because of who he was, he just wanted them to grow up as normal people, and I was just blown away by his ability to relate to his two young kids," Henry said.
That selfless approach was ever present when he wore the All Black jersey and when he was no longer able to.
"I remember the series in 1996, he wasn't out there, but he was in the stands leading the Haka with Eric Rush getting the guys off their feet and you know helping inspire not just guys out there but other people in and around the game," former teammate Jeff Wilson said.
"I was with him two weeks ago at the Rugby World Cup final, and I introduced him to my daughter and he spent so much time with her and she phoned me this morning in a flood of tears. That's how deeply he affected people," former Scotland international Scott Hastings said.
Even the infamous World Cup semifinal when he ran around former England first five Rob Andrew and then over Mike Catt left a positive legacy for those involved.
"Subsequently to get him to sign that photograph and to joke about that photo, the fact he chose to run around me," Andrew said.
But when all's said and done, Lomu's death is a stark reminder that life is precious so make it count.
"We don't know when it's time for us to go, you might be nice and healthy but you don't know what's under you or inside you and one day it hits you and that's it," Vidiri said.
Five months on from his own kidney transplant, Vidiri will continue to live life to the fullest, to do justice to the memory of his good friend.
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