Late Olympic snowboarder Chumpy Pullin’s widow opens up about her decision to retrieve post-mortem sperm from her ex in order to conceive their daughter: ‘Minnie was my gift from him’

The widow of late Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin has opened up about her decision to retrieve his post-mortem sperm in order to conceive their daughter.

Gold Coast-based influencer Ellidy Pullin, 31, welcomed their daughter Minnie in October 2021 – 15 months after his tragic death in a spearfishing accident.

Ellidy told this week’s Woman’s Day magazine that knowing it was what Chumpy would have wanted made her decision to have his child so much easier.

‘It was meant to be, I got very lucky. Chumpy always thought we’d have boys, I think he chose a girl for me. Minnie was my gift from him,’ she began.

‘I include her in everything I do. Chumpy would have loved her.’

She added she made sure Chumpy’s family got to know his daughter and invited them to special occasions. 

Chumpy was 32 years old when he drowned while spearfishing on the Gold Coast, but through an IVF and sperm retrieval process, Ellidy was was able to have his daughter Minnie in October 2021.

‘I didn’t want Chump to just die and be gone. I felt this was bringing a part of him back,’ she previously told Australian Women’s Weekly. 

‘We’d wanted a baby, and I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more right then than a person I could love and cherish.

‘Now that she’s here, I just know that was so meant to be. I see and feel so much of Chump in her. I know I’ve done the right thing so wholeheartedly.’

‘Having Minnie is a constant reminder of her beautiful dad in the best and most bittersweet way,’ Ellidy told News Corp Australia.

A two-time snowboard cross world champion, Chumpy was Australia’s flag-bearer in Sochi in 2014 and a mentor for many up-and-coming snowboarders. 

Ellidy told this week’s Woman’s Day magazine that knowing it was what Chumpy would have wanted made her decision to have his child so much easier