Late Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin’s father has broken down in a powerful Daily Mail YouTube interview, during which he details the moment he knew his son’s girlfriend had cut him and his terminally ill wife out of her life.
Chris Pullin, 69, now lives alone in Eden, NSW, in the family home he built with Sally, who died last year age 68, following a brutal battle with central nervous system lymphoma.
Heartbreakingly, she was diagnosed almost a year to the day their son, a two-time world champion boardercross star, drowned while spearfishing on the Gold Coast on July 8, 2020.
Chris struggled to hold back tears as he described how he spent a night clinging to his wife’s lifeless body in Chumpy’s bed after she died.
Reminders of the two family members Chris so tragically lost within five years are everywhere in his home.
During the on-camera interview, Chris recalled the moment he and Sally realised they had been iced out by Chumpy’s bereaved girlfriend Ellidy, for whom they had signed an affidavit allowing her to retrieve his sperm in the hours after his death.
Ellidy, who changed her surname to Pullin despite not being married to Chumpy, became pregnant via IVF and gave birth to a baby girl in October 2021. Chris revealed he has seen his granddaughter, four-year-old Minnie, just ‘three or four times’.
Chris Pullin with his son, the late Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin
Chris invited Daily Mail to his Eden home, which is full of happy memories
Chris gave a heart-wrenching interview which can be seen on Daily Mail Australia’s Youtube
Mr Pullin has now lost both Chumpy and his beloved wife, Sally, who died last year
Chris believed the feud ignited in May 2024, when Chris emailed the board of the Chumpy Pullin Foundation – of which Ellidy was co-founder – to express concerns that it was straying from its original purpose of supporting initiatives around youths in sport.
Instead, it began to focus on mental health initiatives, which Chris said prompted people to incorrectly assume his son had died by suicide and not drowning, therefore impacting his legacy and memory.
Soon after the email was sent, Chris alleged Ellidy blocked the joint phone number he shared with Sally, who was by that stage was in her third year of fighting her lymphoma diagnosis, and suffering tremendously.
‘After that (email) we came to understand we could no longer contact Ellidy. Our calls were not going through,’ he said, during a filmed interview at his dining room table on January 12.
‘It hurt Sally a lot. She was devastated. Her cognitive ability was impaired by the lymphoma. But she knew we weren’t talking – or rather Ellidy wasn’t talking to us,’ he said.
‘She was also aware we weren’t in touch with Minnie. I was Sally’s protector… but to see her so hurt by this, and there was nothing I could do to protect her… it caused a lot of pain.’
Sally and Chris first met their granddaughter while Sally was undergoing gruelling treatment in Sydney late 2021, when Minnie was around six weeks old and had travelled with her mum from their Gold Coast home to the NSW capital.
‘It was very lovely of Ellidy to do that,’ Chris said.
Chris’ grief was evident as he recalled the day his wife passed away
Sally died in April after suffering from central nervous system lymphoma
She was diagnosed almost exactly a year after Chumpy died in a freak diving accident
Chumpy, his partner Ellidy, and their dog Rummi at home on the Gold Coast
Ellidy welcomed daughter Minnie via IVF after retrieving Chumpy’s sperm posthumously
‘Sally was over the moon about that little baby, and her resemblance to Chump. She still does (resemble him) I daresay.’
Chris alleged he is blocked from viewing the frequent flow of pictures of Minnie posted to Ellidy’s Instagram.
Ellidy did not respond to a written request for comment via her agent.
As part of the Daily Mail YouTube interview, Chris bravely shared painful, moving details of his wife’s final day.
He revealed she went to sleep while he was spooning her on her favourite lounge on their sundeck, which overlooks Eden’s Aslings Beach, and simply did not wake up.
He explained he did not call an ambulance straight away, and instead carried her into Chumpy’s room, and laid down with her on their son’s bed.
‘She was at peace. She looked like she was asleep,’ he said, through tears.
He spent one final night holding his wife, who he met when they were 14 in Mansfield, and began a romantic relationship when they were 18.
‘For me that night was really important. I didn’t want to be in a hurry (for her to go) when it happened.’
Olympian Chumpy was also a two-time world champion boardercross rider
Chumpy’s best friend was his Kelpie, Rummi
Chris and Sally got their own kelpie, Stella, who was a ‘best mate’ to Rummi
Chris now lives alone at the seaside home he built for his family with Sally in Eden, NSW
Chris and Sally were parents to Chumpy and his younger sister Emma, and spent most of their lives running the Pullin ski supplies store in the Victorian High Country while working toward their dream of building a home in Eden and enjoying summers sailing as a family.
When asked why he agreed to speak on camera in Daily Mail’s wide-ranging interview, Chris said he had ‘only just come out of the fog’ of grieving Chumpy, caring for Sally, and losing her nine months ago.
He felt ‘a response was necessary’ over several incidents that have occurred since Chumpy died, including the direction of the foundation in his son’s name, his falling out with Ellidy, and knowing that he has a grandchild who is growing up without her father and paternal grandparents.
During a pause in questioning, Chris admitted, ‘I am just so lonely’.
‘Sal was 62 when we lost Chumpy and our lives stopped. She died at 68, but she really didn’t get to enjoy her 60s and what we expected to be our happy retirement,’ he said.
He told Daily Mail his dog Stella – a kelpie, just like Chumpy’s dog Rummi – has been his saving grace.
The full interview with Chris Pullin at his home in Eden can be found here.
