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illness.
'In his 16 and a half years, he achieved more than most of us would in a lifetime. The number of
people here today bears testament to that. It's a source of comfort to focus on the
accomplishments and the good times. It's only now that some stories from the past are coming
to light. I found the way in which he began his friendship with his best friend, Aaron, to be quite
interesting.
'Having come from different primary schools, they did not know each other when they both hit
High School. At the Year 7 camp at Phillip Island, Chris and Aaron were with a group of other
students who visited the penguins. Apparently Chris was fascinated by these enchanting birds
and thought it would be a good idea to take one home. When he thought nobody was looking,
he jumped the fence, grabbed a penguin and stuffed it inside his coat. Aaron saw what he was
up to and thought to himself: "I like his style!" That's where a wonderful friendship started. Chris
was not one to let regulations get in the way of a challenge or a good time. When Ross had his
21 st birthday at home last year, Chris insisted that he and Aaron should be in charge of the bar
for the night. I'm sure that that's where the pair of them learned the meaning of "quality control",
judging by their appearance by the end of the night.
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'I lost count of the number of times I said to him while he was driving on his L's: "Chris, the
speed limit here is 60, not 75." As far as Chris was concerned, the faster the better, whether it
was on skis or anywhere else.
'His determination had to be experienced to be appreciated. He had the younger swimmers at
the swimming club around his little finger. They idolized him. On a number of occasions he filled
in as coach. I'm sure that if he had asked those 9-year-olds to swim two laps of the pool,
underwater, without stopping, they would have done it, without question. I remember swimming
in the lane next to him one day last year, thinking to myself: "Gee, I must finally be improving.
I'm almost keeping up with him." It wasn't until I got to the other end of the pool that I realized
that while I was going flat out, he was swimming without using his arms!
'At home, if I asked Chris to do something he enjoyed, or saw as a challenge, you always had
to add the rider - "But don't overdo it." If I asked him to fill the woodbox, it was a good bet that
I'd return 15 minutes later to find wood half way to the ceiling.
'Chris no longer has to prove himself to anybody. In many aspects of his life, he's shown us his
ability to set ambitious goals and go about achieving them with fierce determination. The slogan
on the bottom of his Reebok sports bag says it all: "Life is short. Play hard."
'He's taught us all so much. You'll always be an immense source of inspiration for us, Chris.
Good-bye for now.'
After Alan's words, Aaron and Elissa spoke of their love for Chris, and moved everyone, again,
to tears.
Chris Honeycombe, aged 16, was buried later that day at the Healesville Lawn Cemetery.
Masses of flowers filled the Honeycombes' home and accompanied his coffin to the grave. It
was warm and sunny; the tall trees threw shadows that reached out to where Chris lay and
would lie, and the dark mountains seemed far away.
Before long the bronze plaque at the head of the grave would bear the legend: 'A courageous
champion for 16V4 years - Life is short, play hard.'
In February 1992, when he was in remission, Chris told a female reporter from the local paper
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