If you are a wannabe sprinter, then growing up in a natural environment is always beneficial. Like the fastest man on earth, Usain Bolt, who grew up in a remote Jamaican village called Coxeath. Shrouded with lush green landscapes, thick bushes, and sugarcane fields, Coxeath always has something to climb and supply runoff into its fields in its natural frame. In such a wonderful natural setup, Usain Bolt was filled with restlessness. That restlessness, in early childhood, already had made his reputation as a hyperactive child from his doctor. On his 100th head-bashing, Bolt’s father thought he should take him to a doctor to see if the briskness in him was too much. But, as Usain entered the phase of his mid-childhood, the home training presented a stark deviation of life—a death.

Seeing his quickness, Bolt’s teacher, Mr. Nugent, for the first time, encouraged him to take up a track and field challenge in the school. It resulted in winning that race. Bolt’s first winning taste on the track. But with all that new exploration, Bolt found a grim and sad incident in his childhood through his mother’s eyes. However, less or more, he was unaffected by the incident on his own.

Usain Bolt’s first experience of death

That incident occurred at home when Usain Bolt, the hyperactive child, found that his maternal grandfather passed away. And he got cold. Encountering the first death in his life, Bolt didn’t fathom the next step. His granddad banged his head on the slippery floor and was unmoving. “I felt helpless,” wrote Usain Bolt. Being a nine-year-old naive child, he didn’t know anything about first aid. After he got his nerve back, he rushed to bring help. His granddad suffered a heart attack and died afterward. Through his mother and her sister’s tearful eyes, Usain Bolt felt a glint of sadness. And the energetic child felt nothing more than that short-lived helplessness.

Later, Usain Bolt reflected it in his autobiography, Usain Bolt: Faster than Lightning, “As a kid, death didn’t register with me. I didn’t feel anything, because I didn’t really know what was going on.” It confused him. He could feel the sadness during the funeral in everyone, especially in his mother’s eyes. “I hated it that my mom was so upset, but I was just too young to really get what death and funerals were about.” And, in a while, he shrugged off the feeling to get off to playing again.

Home ground taught Bolt about life

For Usain Bolt, his family is very comforting to him and the siblings. Bolt, despite the strict nature of his father, always finds a place to talk about anything at home, even with his father. His father can punish him for his unruly behavior but always gives him the sanctuary he wants. But his dad’s impression of Bolt was, “Oh, the boy is lazy.” Bolt’s father adheres to a strict work ethic and is always ready with talks, and sometimes that ends with rapping Bolt for not taking discipline seriously. But when it came to his mother—she was the most nurturing mom—like the mother-nature of Coxeath.

However, Usain Bolt realizes that his family, born and brought up in Coxeath, played its part in building his ardent mentality and physique and tenderness in behavior. He remembered his first trainer—the dog—and the climbing activity on the tall trees. Also, his mother’s support and father’s cuss about him for being unbridled. And the first sign of life’s imperfectness.