If I were to die....

I've made a personal obit to help you get to know me. News Journalism is becoming grimmer by the second with another lovely article on tragedy!

THIS ISN'T REAL! I'm still alive...

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James Hartnett, the tennis-playing, scuba-diving, Spurs-supporting prospective journalist has passed away, after surviving East London knife-culture for 18 years.

Hartnett had always been a confident writer and his enthusiasm more than anything made him want to pursue a career in journalism. In school he was always achieving high grades and this urged him into choosing to take a journalism course in Bournemouth University.

At only three days old, James stopped breathing. Luckily, his mother noticed how still he was in his cot and rushed over to save him from cot death. Since then he developed asthma, yet this did nothing to stop him from trying his hand at a large number of sports. At school, he played as a goalkeeper for his school team, and although they lost all but one of their matches, he cherished playing one of the sports he loved and being part of a team. However, he couldn’t play outfield since his asthma was too restrictive, so instead took up tennis as a part time sport. The sport, less demanding than a constant 90-minute run around, made Hartnett progressively fitter until he eventually ‘lost’ his asthma after it became so mild it never again affected him.

After his parents divorced in 1997, Hartnett tended to become involved in sport more with his father, after the rest of his life was spent living at home with his mother and sister – three years older than him. He got into more niche sports, such as squash and quad-biking, and was more than happy when his revision period for his GCSE’s was a holiday to Centre Parks – using sport as a reward for revision. He loved water sports too – a recent holiday to Geneva enabled the youngster to try his hand at waterskiing. With influence from his step-granddad, an extremely enthusiastic and devoted deep-sea scuba-diver, he also experienced scuba-diving on holiday in Dominican Republic when he was 16. Four dives later, he plans to eventually get his PADI certificate, once he has enough time and money to afford the course – a long way to go from his tantrums at the early age of 8 at the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, where he refused to snorkel in freshwater.

The East-Londoner was born at Whipps Cross Hospital, Leytonstone, and grew up in Highams Park, London, on the borders of Essex. He attended school in local Walthamstow, and attended Trinity School/Sixth Form until he was 18. After gaining sufficient A-Level grades, the student booked his place in Bournemouth University. His long-term plan is to return to London, but for now he is focusing on his studies.

Hartnett worked as a waiter last summer for a temporary high-profile company. Throughout his time there, he catered at glamorous events such as football and rugby cup finals, tennis finals and ceremonies and music concerts. Although the pay was little, he saved up enough for a car, which he made sure he used every day to squeeze every drop out of his two-and-a-half grand insurance premium. Before moving to Bournemouth, he sold the car for a measly £800 to help pay for his living costs.

With work experience at Leyton Orient FC under his belt in the summer too, he planned to carve his way into sports journalism with match reporting at Bournemouth AFC, before – he had hoped – reporting for his childhood football team Tottenham Hotspur FC after seven years as a devoted season-ticket holder – at a costly £780 per year.