‘Love you forever’: Father of Chumpy’s widow passes away in fresh heartbreak

The widow of Alex “Chumpy” Pullin has revealed her father passed away following a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

The widow of Australian snowboard world champion Alex “Chumpy” Pullin has revealed her father passed away aged 68 last week following a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

On Monday, Ellidy Pullin shared the heartbreaking news with her 152,000 Instagram followers alongside a slideshow of photos of her father Pete Vlug.

He had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2020.

“Rest in Paradise Dadda,” she captioned the post.

“You lit up our entire lives! We’d always turn to you for a laugh if ever we were down. As kids you’d cheer us up by handing us your phonebook and letting us prank call everyone in it.

“Every Saturday was surf safari day and we’d sing The Beach Boys en route to Freshie beach at the top of our lungs out the windows, begging for red lights so that the drive could take longer. Everything with you was so fun. You taught us to never grow up or take life too seriously!

“You’re our Tarzan, the strongest guy ever! You smashed your prognosis and whenever we would get upset watching you deteriorated you’d say, ‘Don’t worry, be happy’.

“We love you forever Dad!”

“Chumpy” Pullin, who carried the flag for Australia at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics, drowned in July 2020 aged 32 while spearfishing at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, believed to have been the result of a shallow water blackout.

Amid the unimaginable grief, Ellidy revealed in early 2021 — less than 12 months after his death — she was pregnant with the Winter Olympian’s child through a miracle procedure.

Ellidy explained her pregnancy had been the result of her and Pullin trying to conceive through IVF treatment the same month he died.

In August, she told Vogue Australia the conception was the result of a snap sperm retrieval operation in the hours following his death.

Ellidy Pullin, widow of champion snowboard Chumpy Pullin, is mourning the loss of her father Pete Vlug. Picture: Ellidy Pullin

Alex "Chumpy" Pullin passed away in 2020.

In October last year, Ellidy announced to her Instagram followers that she had given birth to a healthy baby, 16 months after Pullin’s tragic death.

Later that year, Ellidy shared a photo of Pete with her infant daughter Minnie Alex in a hospital bed.

She spoke about her father’s devastating prognosis of stage four glioblastoma on her Darling, Shine! podcast.

“(It) is basically the most aggressive cancer and stage four is the final phase,” Ellidy said in October 2021.

“They said to us - this was last September - that dad would probably make it to Christmas and not too much longer but it’s been a year and he’s absolutely amazing, his mindset is just incredible.”

Speaking on her podcast last year, Ellidy said seeing other young fathers with their children is a constant, painful reminder Pullin will tragically miss out on fatherhood.

“My grief is for Chump, he’s missing out on being a dad. I see dads with their babies knowing how good he would have been,” she told the podcast.

“Every day I go to the beach and I see guys walking along the beach with their chicks and the guy is carrying the baby in the carrier on his chest and the girl’s got the dog.

“When I see a dad with a baby it f***ing kills me, and I am so happy for that person, it’s not a pity party here.’’