A young life to celebrate

Jed Walker’s passion for sports extended to refereeing in basketball.

A service on Sunday for 19-year-old Jed Walker who died last month from what his family believe was a seizure will be an opportunity to remember his life and the many things he was involved in.

By Chris Marshall

“Everybody is welcome to come and celebrate him,” said his mother, Belinda.

“We're calling this a mantra for him – ‘love fiercely, laugh loudly and cry often’, as we process this.”
His family want people to wear sports shirts, Shakespeare costume or whatever represents their connection, she said.

“And if you didn't have a particular thing, wear anything but black, let’s celebrate, not mourn.”

Jed was found unresponsive in his bed in his Dunedin flat by flatmates checking on him after he had turned in on the evening of Saturday, September 27.

He had watched the All Blacks defeat the Wallabies and had a great evening the night before dressed as Freddie Mercury at a party.

“We talked to him on the Saturday afternoon on video call and he was ‘don't mind if I’ve got some eyeliner on’.”
His “exceptional group of friends” who looked after him, checked on him early enough to try to revive him, said Walker.
“And it wasn't like the ambulance came and it was too late. There was some hope, but obviously not much hope.”

A keen sportsman – rugby, cricket, basketball – Jed had been diagnosed with epilepsy in early 2022 following occasional seizures after suffering a concussion in a 2021 rugby game. 

Concussion Care in Auckland had advised him to stop playing rugby – probably the only time Walker said she saw him shed a tear.
She said he was on medication and while at home under her watchful eye would eat and drink well and get enough sleep. He had one seizure in 2023.

“But other than that, we'd kept it down. And then he went off to university last year.”
The student lifestyle at Otago University where he was studying finance and marketing had resulted in a few health challenges said Walker, such as strep throat and glandular fever.
“And he had this lingering cough that just never went away for two years.”
But he was getting better.
“The thing about epilepsy is you need to take your medication regularly. You need to know clearly what you're taking with it. And you really don't mix drink with your medication. That's a real rule of thumb for everybody. And he went down to Dunedin, and he just wanted to be the life of the party.”

While relatively introverted, Jed was keen on drama and music, appearing on stage in Shakespeare productions and playing Kenickie in the Taupō-nui-a-Tia College production of Grease in 2023.
In Dunedin, Walker said her son was living his best life, having a great time.

“And he just rolled the dice one too many times. As Darren (Jed’s father) described it, he just got unlucky. He was unlucky to have the epilepsy, made one or two dumb decisions, which we've all done, but we've lived to tell the tale by a thin thread… He just wanted to be this great guy that he is.”
While coping with the loss, the Walker family have been heartened by the support and love from the many who have come into contact with Jed.

“The coolest part of Jed is the stories of the kindness that kept coming through.”
She said his speech for head boy, when he got down to the last four, was on inclusivity.

“I love that he did that. He loved drama for the inclusivity.”
He'd performed in heats for the Sheilah Winn National Shakespeare Festival in 2022 and 2023.
“I'm not sure I'm a big Shakespeare fan, but I've sat through a lot of Shakespeare… Julius Caesar, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, King Lear, The Merchant of Venice.”

He was a New Zealand basketball referee for under 16s and secondary schools and played representative basketball for Lake Taupō Basketball, cricket for Lake Taupō Cricket Club, and represented Bay Plenty in cricket.
He enjoyed playing music and was a house leader in his final year at college.
“He had all this potential,” said Walker.
“There are ripples of Jed's life all over the place that we didn't even realise, but he really subscribed to that almost Spider-Man philosophy – with great power comes great responsibility. Truly, he would look out for others, he was quite fabulous.”
The memorial service for Jed is at Taupō-nui-a-Tia College, on Sunday 2pm with a livestream link posted on local community Facebook pages.