Why Craig Hackett had to punch brother Grant Hackett
THE punch that connected with Grant Hackett’s face in January was a long time coming. Born of frustration and despair, the swimming star’s older brother Craig said he was left with few options.
NSW
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THE brotherly punch that connected with Grant Hackett’s face in January was a long time coming.
Born of frustration and despair, the swimming star’s older brother Craig was left with few options when Hackett allegedly ran at him during what friends describe as a drinking “bender” at his Gold Coast home.
Craig and mum Margaret Hackett were attempting their latest intervention at the time.
After years of drug counselling and rehabilitation had failed his brother, physiotherapist Craig, who references the Dalai Lama on his Facebook page, responded with a desperately raised fist.
On Thursday, the emotionally exhausted Craig joined his father Neville in the driveway of the family’s humble Mermaid Beach home to address media camped outside.
It came hours after the family called police and had Hackett, 36, arrested and taken away in handcuffs following a violent incident at the family home.
“I feel for Mum and Dad. They are nervous wrecks. This is now a chronic problem and it looks like it’s not going to go away in a hurry,” Craig said, stepping out of his brother’s long shadow. “From a mental health perspective I hope something can be done.
“We’re trying everything we can. The family has tried for years.
“Everyone knows there’s something that needs to be done. Urgent attention needs to be had. It’s out of our hands now.
“Poor Mum and Dad have tried to look after him so much and I’m concerned for their welfare. I think we’ve reached the end of the road at this point. We just don’t know what to do.”
Six years his brother’s senior, Craig Hackett has for years been the swimming champ’s go-to man in a crisis.
And lately there have been plenty of crises. Friends say Craig has been protective of Grant since they were kids.
Following Hackett’s Stilnox-affected semi-naked stroll through the Crown Towers complex in the early hours of February 21 in 2014, Craig dashed to his brother’s side to arrange a medical intervention on the family’s behalf.
Sources say Craig had been away on holiday with his young family at the time and dropped everything to climb into his Ford Territory to drive 2000km south to Melbourne and collect his celebrity brother, ensuring he wouldn’t have to face photographers and television camera crews at Melbourne airport.
A day later he kissed his wife Nicky and his own young family goodbye and boarded a plane to Los Angeles to check his reluctant brother into a rehabilitation clinic knowing full well that if he didn’t escort him there personally, the swimming champion wouldn’t go.
Two years on, in April 2016 after Hackett’s hoped-for Rio comeback ended, the long-distance swimmer’s life hit rock bottom again when he was photographed slumped in a wheelchair at Melbourne airport being interviewed by federal police after a fellow passenger accused Hackett, who allegedly had been drinking, of tweaking his nipples on a flight from Adelaide.
The incident came just 10 days after he failed to make the 4x200m relay team headed to Rio — a feat that would have made Hackett, then 35, the oldest Australian swimmer at the Olympics and delivered him Games glory 16 years after he had won his first Olympic gold medal at Sydney 2000.
Once again it was Craig who put his own life on hold, packed an overnight bag and made the long drive from the Gold Coast to Melbourne to collect his famous brother and drive him home to Mum and Dad.
The oldest Hackett son then spent several months motivating his brother to focus on his fitness rather than his demons, taking him surfing and golfing in an attempt to bring him back from what Hackett has described as his “white knuckling” episodes.
Grant Hackett’s unspecified addictions have taken a toll on his family who are now at breaking point.
Family sources say Neville and Margaret Hackett have been at loggerheads over retired police inspector Nev’s desperate call to police after he failed to persuade his son to go and get treatment.
The Hackett patriarch had hoped a few hours in a police cell might bring Grant to
his senses.
Margaret Hackett has long been her son’s staunchest defender and a faithful apologist.
She is now the only member of the family Hackett is communicating with, though it’s understood communications to date
have been a couple of brief text messages.
Yesterday she also made a statement to the media pleading with her son, who is still at large and has not been sighted at his Hedges Ave home in days, to come home.
“If he wants us we’re here,” she said. Hackett has refused his family’s appeals to check into a rehabilitation centre and has retreated to a hotel. Hackett’s problems with drugs and alcohol are well documented.
In the past he has relied on benzodiazepine class sleeping pills, alcohol, and the drug Hackett has himself described as “evil”, Stilnox, to help him through stressful times. In 2014 he said he would never “break the law” and take recreational drugs.
It’s unclear when Hackett last saw his children. Sources say it has been a while. He has also had a series of short-term relationships, which sources say have also caused tension within the family.
Contributing to the famously hardworking Olympian’s woes is the fact he hasn’t worked since Westpac let him go as its head of priority markets in 2015 in the wake of the incident at Crown.
Confused and frightened by events of the past week, the family of Olympic champion Grant Hackett are now maintaining a vigil for a lost son and brother.
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