The day I met Jimmy Abbott – and didn’t know it

People are complex, and it’s unfair to suggest someone’s character can be boxed into one or two traits, but if there’s one thing those who know me can agree upon, it’s that I can be properly stupid.

I’m not saying I’m always stupid – my brain generally does its job – but I do sometimes feel as if it has knocked off from work without letting me know.

To give you some perspective, I’ve been in six car accidents which didn’t even involve other vehicles. I just drove into stationary objects.

So in 2011, when I arrived for work on the day of the national elections, the people who encountered me may have been shocked by my ignorance, but I wasn’t surprised at all.

Working for the national news agency (Sapa) at the time, I was assigned to cover the elections in and around the small town where I live.

So I arrived at the Heidelberg Town Hall before the polls opened and marched straight to the front, declaring my quest to interview the person at the head of the queue.

A very large man stuck up his hand.

“I’ve been here since 5.30am,” he said.

Sitting on a chair at the top of a flight of stairs, the man was surrounded by a small group of fellow voters and he was clearly the centre of attention.

“What’s your name?” I asked, pen in one hand, notepad in the other.

A few onlookers giggled.

“My name is Jimmy,” he said, spelling out his full name before launching into a speech about the importance of voting.

Eventually he stopped talking and I thanked him for his words.

“Oh, one more thing,” I said. “What do you do for a living?”

More giggles from those surrounding us.

He told me he was an evangelist. He worked overseas but had come home to vote.

As I walked away, a man in the crowd grabbed my arm.

“Do you work for the media?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Then you should probably know that guy was the national heavyweight champion.”

“He’s a boxer?” I asked.

The man laughed. “Are you really a journalist?”

It was only later, when I googled his name, that I discovered the true identity of the eager voter.

I’m the journalist who interviewed Jimmy Abbott without realising he was Jimmy Abbott, so I’m not worthy of writing an obituary on the man.

But I can confirm he had a personality which matched the size of his immense physical presence, and considering he became a victim of my unpredictable stupidity, he displayed true humility the day we met.

May he rest in peace.

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