Last week, I embarked on a rather ambitious project for Zac’s birthday: to get one of the South African (Protea) players to send him a message for his special day. Sometimes something that seems so simple really necessitates quite a lot of effort and synchronicity, that is unable to be achieved going solo.
I had given it some thought about a month ago, but figured human nature would respond better with a little pressure, so I put out a call for help a week before the deadline. I was uncertain how my request would be received, and rather skeptical, if I’m honest, to how people would respond, if they would respond.
We didn’t receive that one message.
We received THIRTY NINE video messages. Yes, read it again: 39!
No fewer than 27 Proteas (former and current, male and female, senior and U19), six provincial, three club, one school boy, and one former England international cricket players sent personal messages to Zac. We even got a message from the Director of Cricket at one of the high schools Zac is eager to play his cricket at.
And what started as a young boy’s wish became an interesting human experiment in which I have learnt some pretty important life lessons:
...There are still good people in the world. We will never know the actual number of people who embarked on this quest with us, but I know it was a lot. A good number of messages were sent to us by multiple people who had all asked the same players for a video. Andel and I are officially The World’s Most Demanding Parentsright now, and all the cricketing world knows it.
...We may be kept apart, but we are still closely connected. There was a human connection in this project that saw the limitations of social distancing, and smashed the heck out of it. It opened conversations, and made connections, and brought people together, despite the physical distance.
...People want a good-news story, and nothing inspires like the dreams of a child. This was something positive and heartwarming in a time of bad news and sadness. So many people were drawn to the sheer hope of having this dream come true – both the hunter and the hunted – that’s how we got the number of videos we did.
...Celebrities are just people – some good, others not as much. I recall meeting two New Zealand rugby players at the cricket once. One I had been a fan of for a while; the other was just coming onto the scene. I was so disappointed by the encounter with the former, I never looked at him the same way. The second impacted me in such a way that I will forever be fan. The same has happened for Zac through this.
...Social media marketing works! A simple request on social media was spread far and wide through South Africa and beyond, and family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, former connections and absolute strangers rallied alongside us to make the miraculous happen – in 5 days!
...Adults complicate things. After receiving all these secret messages, Andel and I were buzzing! Between excited anticipation and emotional overwhelment, we had great expectations of what we thought Zac’s response would look like. We knew he would be over the moon – and he was, but not the way we thought. He did not scream (like we may or may not have done ourselves); he simply had this huge smile wrap around his face, eyes glued to the screen as he watched and listened intently, nodding in agreement every now and again. What we saw as Zac having jumped the societal fence between patrician and pleb, Zac simply saw as an obvious connection of likeminded guys (he calls all the players by their first name only).
...For better or for worse, the places you go and the people you know make a difference. In this experience we learnt of (other) sportsmen who charge R1000 for a video like we were requesting. Maybe I’m oversimplifying this here, but for me, a 20-second video for a kid should be a no-brainer. Anyway, there are connections that brought us to this place, and there are connections now that will pave some of the future. One thing I know is: should Zac be in the fortunate position of being admired enough to be asked to do this for some other kid one day, he’ll do it. I don’t even think he’ll need me to see to it.
And finally...
Heroes are not qualified by their achievements, but rather by their hearts. The hearts of the players that sent through their messages are so evident in their videos. Some of the players have better records than others; some of the players have a larger fan-base than others. From this moment on, based 100% on who they are, our family will have a soft spot for each one of them, forever. And to each and every piece and person part of this miracle: you are the real heroes. Thank you so, so much. We remain overwhelmed and incredibly grateful, and wish you every good thing ahead x
