Anyone who has ever lost a friend to cancer knows that in the last phase of life, when death approaches inexorably, these people radiate a calm that often seems unreal to outsiders. For the FDP politician Jimmy Schulz, this positive serenity was so pronounced that it almost took her breath away.
When I went to Munich with my colleague Severin Weiland in May to talk with Jimmy Schulz about his illness and his imminent death, we did not know what to expect. Our job is to question politicians hard. Interviews with critically ill people do not belong to the core competences of a capital journalist.
According to Bammel we had before the meeting with Schulz. Of course, we knew that Schulz had agreed to talk about everything. But were we also prepared to ask all the questions that arise when interviewing someone who has only a short time to live?
Message of confidence
Questions like these: What do you do if you think you only have three weeks to live? How did your children react? What should be on your tombstone? Do you have a list of things you still want to do?
From the first moment, Jimmy Schulz scared us to ask these questions. He responded with wisdom and humor that only someone who has finished his life and rejoices over every day that is given to him.
The interview took place on 16 May. Fifteen months earlier, in a nine-hour operation, Schulz had been removed from the pancreas, stomach, spleen, and gallbladder. It bordered on a medical miracle that Schulz was still alive. Against all odds , they say in English. What an encouraging message: The human will can just be stronger than all the findings of conventional medicine.
Schulz has touched many with his words - and he has sent a message of confidence: to the terminally ill, to their relatives, but also to all those who are lucky to be healthy. Because it can meet any of us.
When Jimmy Schulz said that he would like to see the Internet Governance Forum in November, we thought: Is his lifetime enough? It was enough, like many other last things he called us when we asked him.
Sailing again, for example. On Facebook, his team published photos of the trip on the Ammersee.
Only one project did not work. After the first interview, readers had reported, because the digital pioneer Schulz had told how he copes with his everyday life with the help of apps and smart homing. The readers wanted to know how that works.
We asked Schulz if he would explain this to us in another interview. Schulz liked the idea. He invited us to his home and wanted to show all the technical helpers, but unfortunately we had to postpone the appointment several times.
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"The cancer has not changed since August last year, it's there, but it's frozen by chemo," Schulz said in our interview. "I'm grateful for every day, I do not know how many weeks or months I'll stay."
When he was appointed honorary chairman of the FDP Upper Bavaria on October 12, one saw that he was much worse off. He had to be supported while running from two sides. Then we guessed that maybe it would not come to a meeting. It was scheduled for November 13th. Three days before he said off.
On Monday, Jimmy Schulz died as a result of the illness. He was 51 years old.