Paul Gallen receives letter from Andrew Chan day after execution

PAUL Gallen has opened up about an emotional letter he received from convicted Australian drug smuggler Andrew Chan yesterday — one day after he was executed.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 17: NSW Captain Paul Gallen talks to the media during the 2015 State of Origin Series Launch at Eureka Tower on March 17, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

BLUES Origin skipper Paul Gallen has opened up about an emotional letter he received from convicted Australian drug smuggler Andrew Chan yesterday — one day after he was executed.

Gallen had struck up a relationship with Chan in recent months after the footballer received a request from the prisoner.

“I was pretty apprehensive about it at first — to be honest with you, I left it for a couple of weeks,” he told 2Day FM’s Dan & Maz.

“I didn’t know what to do and I ended up getting in contact with him and talking to him ... one of the things that stuck out in my mind was just how hard a childhood he had and just his upbringing was pretty full on.”

Gallen told 2Day FM’s Dan and Maz about his relationship with Andrew Chan.

Gallen said while they spoke about Chan’s troubled youth, Chan mostly wanted to talk about his love of football.

“He said, ‘I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been shot at, I’ve been bashed — never cried in my whole life. And when you guys won the origin in 2014, I cried.’

“He’s watched every single game of rugby league for the past eight years.”

He then revealed he’d actually received one final letter from Chan yesterday.

“I was going to bed last night and I received what will obviously be the final letter — and it was pretty confronting,” he said.

“One line he wrote to me was: ‘For myself, each day is like a diamond. I can either appreciate what I have and see the value of it — or I can just lay around and do nothing.’”

“He basically just said he realised what was important in his life now — he knows what’s important to him and every day he wakes up, he’s happy to wake up.”

Describing Chan’s execution as a “waste of a life”, the footballer said Chan still could have achieved a lot by staying in prison.

“There’s so many people he could have helped,” he said.

“You know, he started an orphanage over there as well. He could have helped educate people who came in.”

Dan & Maz airs on hit 104.1 2Day FM 6-9am in Sydney and 4-6pm on Today’s hit network.