Only human

Most of us have role models that we look to for inspiration, admire and hope to emulate in some fashion during our lifetime.

It may be someone who is at the top of their profession, someone of exceptional character, a person who pushes him or herself to the highest echelons of sport or someone who has overcome incredible adversity.

If that role model acts in a way that is a serious affront to that elevated status, many of us become confused and cannot help but feel let down in someway and cheated.

These feelings were most certainly felt after Olympic and Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius – who only six months ago achieved the feat of becoming the first double-amputee runner to compete in both Games – was alleged to have murdered his girlfriend at his home in the early hours of last Thursday morning.

The story has exploded in the local South Africa media and has also garnered steam in the international media.

It has been reported that his deceased girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, who was a 29-year-old model, was shot four times – in the head, hand, chest and arm – at his exclusive Silver Lakes estate home in Pretoria.

He is however denying the murder in the “strongest terms”, according to a statement released by his management company last Friday, the same day he appeared in court, consumed by grief.

It must be said that the biggest tragedy in all of this is that Steenkamp prematurely had her life taken from her, but the high-profile nature of Pistorius’ celebrity has kept the media focus mainly on his actions, the views of his family, the moves being made by his multitude of sponsors and the ensuing case evidence that will emerge. 

One South African journalist wrote of how his parents and children, one of whom wrote an inspirational school essay on the athlete not too long ago, have been quite traumatised by the event. Pistorius, who was born in Pretoria, was a symbol of hope in a country with a violent apartheid history and represented the fact that it possible for all South Africans to fight for equality. “His life story was often told as a parable of hope that the country really was in the process of remaking itself after apartheid,” wrote Donald McRae of the Guardian newspaper.

There were some rumours floating around in the hours immediately following the incident that he had mistaken his girlfriend for an intruder, but now that he has been charged with murder, friends and acquaintances are voicing their shock.

Although this circumstance is much more grim due to the death involved, one cannot help but recall Lance Armstrong’s recent fall from grace, where he admitted to using banned substances in his quest to win multiple Tour de France titles.

He, too, was highly revered the world over for his superhuman feats and his fall deeply stung the belief and optimism of many of his fans.

If these two instances and many more, such as the tragic case where NFL player Jovan Belcher shot the mother of his young child and himself in early December, have taught us anything, it is that we must remember our heroes are human and are susceptible to the pressures and rigours of this world like everyone else.

This is why we as parents, guardians and other authority figures must impress upon our children the difference between right and wrong, regardless of who is carrying out the act, that we should be all equal in the eyes of the law and that we are all ultimately responsible for our own actions.