‘I remember every moment… because it was the worst day of my life’: AFL star reveals the heartbreaking moment she discovered her mother had been murdered by a boyfriend
- AFL star Courtney Ugle recalled tragic moment she learnt her mother was killed
- Jody Websdale, was murdered by a partner following a domestic dispute in 2016
- The footballer, from Bunbury, Western Australia, said football was a distraction
- Eventually she saw an life-changing opportunity to play with Essendon VFLW
AFL star Courtney Ugle remembers following the ambulance as it rushed to hospital with her mother inside after receiving a phone call that changed her life forever.
The 22-year-old received a heartbreaking call from her brother to come home immediately.
The footballer, from Bunbury in Western Australia, arrived to see an ambulance taking her mother, Jody Websdale, away and along with her three siblings followed suit.
‘I remember that day, I can replay it 100 times in my head and I remember every moment of it … because it was the worst day of my life,’ she told ABC news.
AFL star Courtney Ugle (pictured) said football saved her life and helped her overcome a family tragedy
When they arrived at the hospital they were told the heartbreaking news that their mother had died.
‘The poor nurse, to deliver that news to us. She said the paramedics did everything that they absolutely could,’ she said.
Ugle’s mother had been killed by her partner following a domestic violence dispute.
Her mother’s partner was charged with murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Her mother had been using drugs and alcohol to deal with her grief and strain of raising four children alone after Ugle’s father, Glen Ugle, died when she was 11.
Ugle returned to training weeks after the tragic incident in 2016 and said football helped her cope with the crippling grief because it was a distraction.
She said football was a distraction when her mother was killed by a partner in 2016 (pictured is Ugle with her mother)
‘Footy definitely saved me through those really dark times. I’m so grateful and thankful … that a game saved my life,’ she said.
Ugle was then given the opportunity to play with the Essendon VFLW team and with the support of her siblings moved interstate in less then a week.
The brave athlete also works for an Indigenous community group called Djirra, sharing her story with young Indigenous women, who are more than 30 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence.
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