Jake Ryan (footballer)

Jacob 'Jake' Ryan is a former Australian Rules Football player, and a 2002 Bali bombing survivor. He currently works for Fairfax Media and is a manager for their Domain section website.

Biography

Ryan grew up in the Gold Coast, playing for Southport in the AFL Queensland, before he moved to Melbourne to play in the VFL for Sandringham in 2000. There he played in a premiership side, in his debut season, and following the 2001 season, the young rover entered the AFL draft, and was taken in the Rookie draft by Geelong.

Ryan played one preseason match, then called the Wizard Cup, against Richmond, before returning to play in the VFL, as he was inelgible to play senior matches whilst on the rookie list. Ryan survived just one season on the list, before being cut by the squad, and returned to the Queensland AFL to play for Southport again the following year.

Later in 2002, Ryan's life was changed when he was inside the Sari Club at the time of the 2002 Bali bombings. The club was very close to the car bomb that went off on the streets, and Ryan was knocked down during the blasts. He suffered severe burns to his foot, one of his heels burnt off, and the blasts damaged his abdominal, where some shrapnel tore his stomach.

Ryan survived the attack, as did his brother who was with him at the time of the attack, and despite refusing treatment at a local Army hospital, the injured footballer managed to get to a private hospital via an ambulance, and was treated there before being transported back to Australia, where he received further treatment, and was discharged from hospital. [http://www.abc.net.au/goldcoast/stories/s965733.htm Jake Ryan's Bali: a double-edged sword]

Following the bombings, Ryan was asked to appear in the trial against the bombers, and following a day in court, he and brother Mitchell confronted Imam Samudra, one of the terrorists behind the bombings, as Samudra began his daily leave of the courthouse, where he would raise his arms scream at locals who came to watch him, including survivors and families of lost ones, screaming out 'Allahu Akbar (God is great)' before Ryan rushed forth to within a few metres of the terrorist, before screaming at him, telling him he was a 'f---ing dog' and he was 'going to die'. Ryan was separated by just a waist high fence, and was about to jump the fence when he was restrained. [http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/06/23/1056220541591.html Screaming Bali survivor confronts Samudra - The Age]

The outburst was applauded by many, Ryan later commenting that whilst the terrorist had shown no remorse over his actions, happily watching the fear and sadness of his victims and their families as he screamed at them, when Ryan had retaliated, he had for the first time seen fear in Samudra's eyes.

Following the bombings and outburst, his demand from the media led to him being offered a job on a local radio station, and in turn Ryan wrote a column in The Australian newspaper, and is now working for Fairfax Media in their domain section.

References