Eagles midfielder Chad Fletcher’s brush with death in Las Vegas
CHAD Fletcher allegedly “flatlined” after collapsing outside a Las Vegas casino. The former Supreme Court judge behind a secret AFL report concludes illicit drugs were the cause.
West Coast
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CHAD Fletcher was strapped into a Las Vegas hospital bed, unconscious and gravely ill.
A few nights earlier, the Eagles midfielder was allegedly observed in a hotel bar showing off a picture on a digital camera of a substance “that looked like the drug ice”.
It was October 2006, just weeks after the West Coast Eagles’ historic one-point premiership triumph over the Sydney Swans at the MCG.
Fletcher, 18 of his Eagles teammates and five club officials had extended their flag celebrations with a party trip to Sin City.
On the final night in Las Vegas, he collapsed outside the MGM Grand casino and allegedly “flat-lined” — showed no sign of a pulse — and had to be revived by a club staffer before he was rushed to hospital.
When the news broke at home, club bosses insisted Fletcher’s illness was “alcohol induced” or an allergic reaction from a yellow fever vaccination.
But in his secret AFL report, former Supreme Court judge William Gillard, QC, concludes what the football world has long suspected — that illicit drugs were the cause of Fletcher’s brush with death in the Nevada desert.
“On the morning after his admission to the hospital, Fletcher was observed to be in an unconscious state by two of the officials and was gravely ill. He was strapped into a hospital bed,” Gillard reveals.
“I interviewed Fletcher on two occasions. In the second interview, I informed him that I had a provisional view that drugs were involved in his collapse and I invited him to produce his medical records … he refused to do so,” he writes.
“Fletcher … told me that he did not know what caused his problem. He was very ill and he recognised that he had had ‘a very moving and very life-changing event’.
“Evidence was placed before me that a few days before the incident Fletcher was openly displaying in a bar a photograph on a digital camera screen which appeared to show a supply of a substance that looked like the drug ice … he was observed to be highly stimulated …
“I gave Fletcher the opportunity to comment on this evidence and he denied that it had occurred. I do not believe him. I have no reason to disbelieve the source of the information.
“In my opinion, the totality of the evidence leads to a conclusion that Chad Fletcher was taking drugs in Las Vegas and that the taking of the drugs was a cause of his serious illness. Fletcher was not penalised,” Gillard says.
The former judge is scathing in his assessment of both the club’s handling of the issue at the time and the evidence of the players and officials.
“The whole (Fletcher) issue reflects upon the club,” Gillard says. “It exemplifies the attitude which had persisted for some five years previously, and that was to ignore any suggestion of drug-taking.
“The official line was there was no evidence of drug-taking. But the circumstantial evidence cannot be ignored.
“Too much time was spent in my investigation on this incident. It was difficult to ascertain the truth …
“The club adopted what it had done in the past and moved into damage-control mode. It hid behind the fact that it was alleged it could not prove that Fletcher had taken drugs in Las Vegas despite all the circumstantial evidence pointing to it … and let the incident pass without any form of penalty. Again, the wrong message was sent to all the players.”
Gillard also lists the names of the club officials who travelled with the players to Las Vegas — Tim Gepp, Bill Sutherland, Neil Ross, Glenn Stewart and Tony Micale.
One official stayed on with Fletcher, who spent four days at the Desert Springs Hospital, as the others departed for San Diego.
Gillard vents his frustration over incomplete versions of events.
“All officials and players I interviewed denied that he (Fletcher) had collapsed or that any players were taking drugs. I interpolate to observe that the club summary referred to flat-lining and revival,’’ Gillard says.
One account of the collapse which sheds some light on the incident was given by senior coach Gepp.
“Tim Gepp has had substantial experience in AFL football. He has been with the club for many years and occupies a senior position in the coaching team.
“He informed me that, on the night in question, he was telephoned by another official and advised that Chad Fletcher was not well and was being brought to the hotel where the team was,’’ Gillard says in his report.
“Fletcher arrived and Gepp met him and observed that he was in a bad state and apparently ill.
Gepp stated that Fletcher was not in a collapsed state and he was unable to say whether Fletcher had collapsed or not.
“Another person told me that he was told that Fletcher had collapsed outside the team’s hotel, the MGM Grand, after being in a nightclub. Gepp denied that he had revived him. He arranged for Fletcher to go to a hospital.”
Gillard was unable to get a statement from any person giving direct evidence about Fletcher flat-lining and being revived.
Despite difficulties in obtaining a full version of the night’s events, Gillard concludes: “It is inconceivable that the five officials who were with the players did not form an opinion on the morning after Fletcher was admitted to hospital that his problem was drug-fuelled.
“I do not believe for one minute that the players who were on the trip did not know that and I do not believe for one minute that the club did not know that fact by the time the board met in Broome in November 2006.”
Fletcher, a 2004 All Australian, escaped conviction in 2010 after pleading guilty to possession of cocaine at a Sydney nightclub.
He recently revealed a battle with depression.
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