How can death be so cruel?

There are some stories a writer never wants to tell.

This is one of them.

You almost wish you could squeeze your eyes shut, grit your teeth and pray that when you finally gather the courage to open them again, the nightmare will have vanished with the dawn.

That someone will laugh and say there has been a terrible mistake. That Jayden Adams is still here. Still smiling. Still gliding effortlessly across the midfield.

Still carrying the hopes of a football nation on shoulders far too young to bear such responsibility.

But life is not always kind.

Death, cruel and indifferent, has once again barged into our lives and stolen one of South Africa’s brightest lights.

At just 25 years old, Jayden Adams is gone. Even as those words are written, they refuse to make sense.

How is this possible?

How does a young man blessed with extraordinary talent, limitless promise and an entire career stretching invitingly before him simply disappear?

How does someone widely regarded as one of the future pillars of Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns leave us before his greatest chapters were even written?

Lest I be accused of blasphemy by millions of Christians but, I wish God could help me try to understand why, because I certainly cannot.

There is no answer that can satisfy a grieving football family.

Only two weeks ago, our hearts broke for him when news emerged that he had lost his beloved grandmother during the FIFA World Cup.

Yet he still found the courage to pull on the green and gold, to represent millions of South Africans while carrying unimaginable personal pain. That quiet resilience made many admire him even more.

Now the pain has multiplied beyond measure.

Today South African football is poorer. A dressing room has lost its heartbeat. A family has lost a son. Friends have lost a companion. Supporters have lost a player they believed would define the next decade of our football.

There are moments when anger feels more appropriate than sadness.

Anger at death itself.

Because death has robbed us. It has robbed South Africa of a young man many believed was a generational talent.

It has robbed children of a role model whose journey from Stellenbosch to Mamelodi Sundowns and the World Cup inspired them to dream bigger.

It has robbed football lovers of countless magical moments that will now never be witnessed.

Some losses hurt deeply.

Others leave wounds that may never truly heal.

Jayden Adams belonged to the latter.

Rest peacefully, young man. Your journey was heartbreakingly short, but your gift was immense. South African football will forever wonder what might have been, and that may be the most painful question of all.