Giants star finds joy after double miscarriage heartbreak

Harry Himmelberg wants the issue of miscarriage to be spoken about more after he and wife Taylia’s tough journey to parenthood. Hear from the Giants star on how his baby daughter has given him perspective.

Harry Himmelberg with his baby girl Hazel after the Giants’ win over Collingwood in Opening Round. Photo by Phil Hillyard

GWS defender Harry Himmelberg is hell bent on using his platform to help other couples deal with miscarriage heartache after becoming a first time father late last year.

Himmelberg’s wife, Taylia, suffered two miscarriages before the couple welcomed Hazel Olive into the world in mid-December, the ideal early Christmas gift for the 28-year-old.

The Giants are looking to bounce back from last year’s straight sets finals heartbreak, and face a huge test in a mouth-watering clash against fellow unbeaten heavyweight Hawthorn in Launceston on Saturday night.

But Himmelberg said Hazel had opened his eyes on life’s priorities.

“It certainly provides some perspective on what’s important,” he said.

“It’s helped me being a bit more productive with my time, you’re playing for your family a little bit more.

“It’s been awesome and Taylia has been a star as well. She’s made it a pretty seamless transition into fatherhood and playing.

“All credit goes to her in that aspect as well, mothers do an amazing job and she’s made it really easy to transition into that different lifestyle.”

Himmelberg signed a big contract to stay with the Giants until the end of 2029 in late 2023.

The Wagga product and Taylia spoke about their tough journey to parenthood with the Herald Sun late last year, and are keen for the issue of miscarriage to be discussed more.

GWS player Harry Himmelberg and wife Taylia. Picture: David Crosling

“You don’t really have an understanding about it until it’s at your front door,” Himmelberg said.

“I didn’t really understand the statistics around it and how common it is. It’s just not talked about enough.

“Taylia’s very passionate about that, and we both are. If we can help other people understand it and maybe speak about it a bit more (it would help), because it does take a pretty big tax on your mental health as well.

“Especially for mothers, they’re the ones who end up feeling it the most, so to be able to speak about that and have a platform for that is really important.

“If we can help just one person going through a similar thing, then that’s our role in the community as an athlete as well.”

Himmelberg said the response after the couple spoke of their journey last year was reassuring.

“We had a lot of people reach out to us, which was really nice, and share their similar stories,” he said.

“To have that platform is really important for athletes.”

The Giants squandered handy leads in finals losses to Sydney and Brisbane last year, but have responded strongly with two strong wins to begin this season.

Harry Himmelberg hand balls during the win over Melbourne. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

They blew Collingwood off the park by 52 points in opening round, before edging out Melbourne in a gritty three-point win in wet conditions.

They had the bye last week before taking on the high-flying Hawks, who are 3-0.

Hawthorn won a thriller by a goal when the sides met at Launceston last year, but Himmelberg said erasing the September heartache is far bigger motivation.

“The finals series is probably a bit more polarising for us as far as that goes,” he said.

“It’s great to play in these games, two in-form teams early in the year gives us a great challenge.

“We’re really looking forward to it and Lauceston’s a beautiful ground as well, hopefully we can sell that out.

“They (Hawks) have changed a lot as a team and got better, and we feel like we have as well.”

Originally published as Giants star finds joy after double miscarriage heartbreak