The grieving girlfriend of snowboarding champion Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin has shared heartwarming photos of the surfer and beloved pet dog Rum.
Pullin, 32, was spearfishing alone in the water at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast when he suffered a blackout about 10.30am on July 8.
Paramedics performed CPR for 45-minutes on Pullin but were unable to revive him.
A month on since his tragic death, girlfriend Ellidy Vlug, 28, shared a series of adorable photos and videos of Pullin with their pet dog Rum.
A month on since his tragic death, girlfriend Ellidy Vlug, 28, shared a series of adorable photos and videos of Pullin with their pet dog Rum
‘Chumpo’s lil twin. They had this connection. I was always the bloody 3rd wheel!’ girlfriend Ellidy Vlug wrote
The 32-year-old world champion snowboarder was spearfishing alone in the water at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast when he suffered a blackout about 10.30am on July 8
‘Chumpo’s lil twin. They had this connection. I was always the bloody 3rd wheel!’ she captioned the post.
‘Now every time my heart hurts RumDog comes up and literally rests her head right on my chest. I feel it’s him.’
Ms Vlug previously told told Daily Mail Australia she last saw her boyfriend alive moments before he’d decided to go for a dive, telling him: ‘Love you, watch out for sharks’.
Ms Vlug then went for a walk by herself, returning home to find a neighbour at her door telling her a spear fisher had been pulled from the ocean.
She then raced to the beach with her mother, where she was told the body belonged to her boyfriend of eight years.
Pullin pictured with a much younger Rum who was his best friend
‘Now every time my heart hurts RumDog comes up and literally rests her head right on my chest. I feel it’s him’
Ms Vlug previously told told Daily Mail Australia she last saw her boyfriend alive moments before he’d decided to go for a dive, telling him: ‘Love you, watch out for sharks’
A few days after his death, Ms Vlug summoned the strength to lead an early morning service in tribute of Pullin.
Supported by an army of surfing mates, Ms Vlug paddled into the waters at Palm Beach, just meters from where the Olympic snowboarder died.
Ms Vlug and a handful of friends waded into the same waters that took her beloved boyfriend to share an emotional farewell.
The group of mourners donned wreaths of flowers around their heads and surf swimsuits – one of Pullin’s passions was to surf during the summer.
Surfer Mick Fanning and Pullin’s father joined the mourners in a paddle out while grieving locals who chose to remain on land planted bouquets of flowers in the sand.
The girlfriend of late Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin paid tribute to his life in a moving dawn memorial (pictured, Ellidy Vlug flanked by family and friends during the morning service)
Ms Vlug and a handful of friends waded into the same waters that took her beloved boyfriend to share an emotional farewell
Family and friends comfort a tearful Ms Vlug (pictured) during the morning service
Ms Vlug (pictured, centre) and Pullin’s father (left) carry their boards out to the surf during the morning service
Mourners gathered on the beach with a small tribute to Pullin following his tragic death
Ms Vlug told of how Pullin, 32, was obsessed with learning new skills.
He was ‘a jack of all trades’, she said.
In the winter he snowboarded, in the summer he surfed, and he spent the seasons in between learning new sports.
Pullin had mastered holding his breath for long periods of time, and regularly went spear fishing either on his own or with mates.
The only concern Ms Vlug and Pullin’s family ever had was he could potentially come face-to-face with a shark.
‘When he told me he’d decided to go for a dive, I was just like ”epic, love you, watch out for sharks”,’ Ms Vlug explained.
‘I always say that.’
The couple were ‘parents’ to one-year-old Rum, their beloved Kelpie puppy, and Ms Vlug said Pullin absolutely adored her.
‘He was a family man through and through. Me, and his sister and parents and Rummi were his world,’ she said.
Ms Vlug shared several photos of Pullin with their pet dog Rum
The couple purchased their dream home in 2018 and had spent the last two years renovating it to prepare for raising a family
Ms Vlug shares a tight-knit relationship with Pullin’s parents and sister. They all live in New South Wales, so were physically separated during the COVID-19 lockdown, but remained in close contact.
The two- time World Championships gold medallist and three time Olympian found pleasure in the simple things, like sitting by a fire and lazy Sunday mornings in bed.
The couple purchased their ‘dream home’ on the Gold Coast in 2018, and had spent plenty of time slowly turning it into their forever home.
‘This home is our happy place,’ Ms Vlug said.
The couple were hoping it would be their ‘forever home’ where they could one day raise a family.
‘We’ve always been happy, but we’ve just been the happiest people this past year’.
The 32-year-old started dating Ms Vlug back in 2012, when she was 20 years old and he was 25
Champion snowboarder Alex Pullin was living a simple life on the Gold Coast with his model girlfriend before he tragically died in a freak accident last month
World champion snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin (pictured with his girlfriend Ms Vlug) has drowned while spearfishing on the Gold Coast