IT was a love story with a heart-breaking twist when Ellidy Pullin’s husband, Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, died suddenly in a tragic accident.
The model from Australi suffered an unimaginable loss and pain in 2022 when her partner Alex – a snowboarder who competed at the 2010, 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics – drowned whilst spearfishing.
Speaking on the podcast, Good Mourning, the author bravely opened up about the freak accident, life without ‘Chump’ and how she gave birth to his ”miracle” baby after finding out about a procedure called post-mortem sperm retrieval.
Ellidy, who was dating the Olympian, 32, for close to a decade, said that 8th July 2020 was just like any other regular day – but little did the beauty know her life would soon turn upside down just hours later.
”It was just a normal day, we woke up like any other day – the sun was shining, it was a beautiful day.
”Chump was like ‘Do I go for a surf today or do I go for a dive today?”’
As Ellidy, now 31, was keen to go for a walk, the duo decided to ”regroup later” and go to a local café to enjoy the glorious weather in Gold Coast, Queensland.
”We had friends coming up and we were getting the house ready – fully normal stuff.
”He left the house that morning to go spearfishing, I walked around Manny, our dog.”
Unfortunately, that morning would be the final time the blonde model would see her loving partner – as sometime later, one of their neighbour’s informed Ellidy about an accident on the beach.
The lady, she shared in the podcast, had seen Chump leaving their home – and then stumbling across a Facebook post about a body who’d been pulled out unconscious from around the same spot.
At first, Ellidy refused to believe the news and was convinced it had to be someone else – there was no way it’d be her dear hubby.
”Thanks for telling me – but it’s not gonna be Chump.
”I was just like ‘Nah’.”
Everything just aligned and I think Chump was just guiding it – I think it was all meant to be
Ellidy Pullin
The reality kicked in after she’d gone inside and it finally dawned upon her – before rushing to the scene with her mum.
”I saw him that morning – he’s the happiest, fittest person – and he just never came home that day.”
What Is Posthumous Sperm Retrieval?
The first documented PSR was reported in 1980, and the first baby conceived as a result of PSR was born in 1999.
According to Jesse Mills, MD, urologist and director of the Men’s Clinic at UCLA, ”sperm can generally be extracted from a patient who is brain-dead or shortly after he’s declared deceased”.
The recommended time frame is typically around 24 to 36 hours after death.
To perform the retrieval of the sperm, a surgeon or urologist may conduct an epididymal aspiration (extraction of sperm with a needle through the skin), a testicular biopsy, or a complete removal of the testicles.
Once the sperm is extracted, it can be frozen and stored the same way fertility clinics freeze a living donor’s semen.
The former world champion – who was just 32 at the time – drowned after suffering a ‘’shallow-water blackout’’ when trying to hold his breath for too long.
Alex was the flag-bearer for the Australian national team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and his sudden death rocked the sporting world – and Ellidy’s.
Just hours after his death, Ellidy’s friends and family were already talking about post-mortem sperm retrieval, as they knew the couple had been ”trying for a baby”.
Not even 12 hours later, the model agreed – even though she hadn’t yet processed that her long-time partner was no longer there.
”Like, gone, gone.”
My grief is for Chump, he’s missing out on being a dad. I see dads with their babies knowing how good he would have been
Ellidy Pullin
The young Aussie – whose father, Peter, was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer and died later that January – started the IVF course six months later.
After two rounds of IVF, the model gave birth to Minnie Alex Pullin in October 2021.
”She’s now four months – and she looks like him… I’m gonna see him in her eyes.”
Sharing a heart-warming snap of their new-born on Instagram, the mum wrote: “Your Dad and I have been dreaming of you for years little one.
‘My grief is for Chump’
”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!”
Ellidy opened up about the emotional struggle in her podcast, Darling, Shine!: “My grief is for Chump, he’s missing out on being a dad. I see dads with their babies knowing how good he would have been.
“Every day I go to the beach and I see guys walking along the beach with their chicks and the guy is carrying the baby in the carrier on his chest and the girl’s got the dog.
“When I see a dad with a baby it f***ing kills me, and I am so happy for that person, it’s not a pity party here.”
She went on: ”We were so lucky that his sperm was still alive, it was happy and healthy.
When I see a dad with a baby it f***ing kills me, and I am so happy for that person, it’s not a pity party here
Ellidy Pullin
”Everything just aligned and I think Chump was just guiding it – I think it was all meant to be.”
After Alex’s sudden passing, the professional swimwear model launched a podcast with her friend, Chloe Fisher, who was navigating an earth-shattering misfortune of her own.
The two friends always had one another to lean on – but realised that in the world of grieving and baby loss, not everyone has the same privilege, and so, Darling, Shine! was born.
The aim is to leave the listeners feeling lighter and less alone in a world that may sometimes seem so isolating and dark.
Is this legal in the UK?
Clear legal rules outlining the use of the sperm and eggs of those who are incapacitated is in place to protect the vulnerable from being involved in fertility treatment without their consent.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended in 2008) stipulates that each party must give written, informed consent to ensure that our reproductive materials are used within strict parameters.
The UK has one of the most rigorous fertility legal frameworks in the world.
The 1990 Act was the first attempt to regulate what quickly became a race to create babies in vitro after the birth of Louise Brown in 1978.
Ethically the act ensures an incapacitated person’s right to consent, dignity, confidentially and the choice of becoming a parent.