Partner's pregnancy miracle 12 months after death of Chumpy Pullin
The widow of late Australian snowboard champion Alex Pullin has revealed she is pregnant with his child less than 12 months after his tragic death.
Pullin died last year while spearfishing along an artificial reef off Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.
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The 32-year-old suffered a ‘shallow-water blackout’ after trying to hold his breath for too long and drowned.
But in a heartbreaking and uplifting twist, Pullin's widow Ellidy Vlug has now announced that she's pregnant with his child.
The Instagram influencer took to social media on Sunday to show off her baby bump in a series of photos.
Vlug explained that the miracle came about as a result of IVF.
“Bubba Chump coming this October,” she wrote.
“Your Dad and I have been dreaming of this for years little one.
“With a heart-wrenching plot twist in the middle, I am honoured to finally welcome a piece of the phenomenon that is Chumpy back into this world!
“When my love had this accident, we all held onto hope that I’d pregnant that month. We’d been trying for a baby.
“IVF was on our cards but it wasn’t something I ever imagined I’d be tackling on our own.
“Bittersweet like none other, I’ve never been more certain or excited about anything in my life.”
Alex 'Chumpy' Pullin's tragic death
The death of dual world champion snowboarder and Winter Olympics star Pullin sent shockwaves through the sporting community.
Pullin was dragged from the water unconscious and paramedics spent 45 minutes trying to revive him.
“When he told me he’d decided to go for a dive, I was just like ‘epic, love you, watch out for sharks’,” Vlug said last year.
“I always say that.
“He was a family man through and through. Me, and his sister and parents and (dog) Rummi were his world. I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”
Vlug called Pullin a “beautiful man” in a note she left for the media on the front door of the Gold Coast home they bought in 2018.
"Know that Chumpy absolutely loved life and lived life to the full,” she wrote.
“I am eternally grateful that I have lived my life with him and I am deeply saddened that his life has been cut short.”
Pullin was the flag-bearer for Australia at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Known affectionately as ‘Chumpy’, he won world championship titles in 2011 and 2013, and nine World Cup gold medals.
Pullin’s parents and girlfriend were joined by hundreds of mourners at Palm Beach in the days immediately following his death, with a traditional 'paddle out' taking place to honour him.
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