Australian snowboard legend Alex Pullin’s widow Ellidy Vlug has announced she is pregnant with his child less than 12 months following his tragic death.
Vlug posted her joyous, heartbreaking news on Instagram, describing it as a “heart-wrenching plot twist”.
The Instagram influencer showed off her baby bump in a series of stunning photos posted to her social media page with a description that will bring fans to tears as she continues to grieve her partner’s death.
Pullin drowned while spearfishing on the Gold Coast, believed to have suffered a shallow water blackout at Palm Beach in July, 2020.
Vlug explained her pregnancy miracle is the result of her and Pullin trying to conceive through IVF treatment the same month Pullin died.
“Bubba Chump coming this October,” she wrote on Instagram.
“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.”
Winter Olympics cult hero Pullin was found unresponsive on the ocean floor at an artificial reef by a snorkeller, who called for help from a group of nearby surfers.
The alarm was raised and a lifeguard raced to assist, pulling him from the surf on a jet ski.
Paramedics performed CPR for 45 minutes but the 32-year-old couldn’t be revived.
In 2014 he was Australia’s flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremony in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Pullin competed at three Winter Olympics and was the first Australian winter sports athlete to defend a World Championship title.
Who is Ellidy Vlug?
Pullin’s girlfriend is a swimwear model from Narrabeen on Sydney’s northern beaches.
The pair had known each other for 10 years through friends but hit it off at a party Aussie surfer Laura Enever hosted.
“We just started talking after meeting there and I called her out for a dance,” Pullin told Buro.
“Heaps old school! Dragged her out on the dance floor.”
Ms Vlug said the couple were good at doing long distance when Pullin was away and she just made sure she kept herself busy.
In February she posted a photo as a bridesmaid at a wedding and said she was wondering when her turn was.