Craig Turley

[Moi]

Is anyone watching Channel 2 (Compass) at the moment and can tell me about what happened to Craig Turley.
I missed the beginning of the show and missed the details of his life that has made him so unhappy.
Wish I'd seen the beginning - sounded pretty interesting.

[F0551L]

 was born  to single mum in the country  adopted to a family in the city all his life he has felt different from the rest  was quite an interesting program  looks like he is still searching for that something else  hope he finds it  would be a waste to go as far as he has and not get there

[one-eyed]

There's an article on Turley in The Age taken from the West Australian:

Health, career, family issues took former Eagle to edge
By Mark Duffield, Perth
February 27, 2006

FORMER West Coast star Craig Turley has revealed that he contemplated suicide after aggravating an old back injury in 1997.

Turley, the 1991 Brownlow Medal runner-up and a player in the Eagles' most successful era, made the startling admission to the ABC television program Compass, which screened last night.

"Craig Turley: Heaven and Hell" plotted his upbringing under loving adoptive parents, his rise to stardom, a debilitating back injury received in 1992 and the discovery of his natural parents.

It also traced a plunge into depression when he hurt his back again while surfing after his AFL career had ended, and uncertainty about whether he had the strength to rehabilitate a second time.

"It got to a point where I felt that I didn't have the energy to work through it again," he said.

He has since carved a new life, working with young indigenous sportsmen in Perth.

In the documentary, Turley revealed he had believed he was part-Aborigine until he discovered his biological parents, though he said he still felt a strong affinity with indigenous people. He also told of the shock of learning that his biological father was a prominent West Australian Football League player.

Turley's biological parents have never been publicly named, but it is believed he is related to prominent AFL footballers of his era — one an Eagles teammate — on both his mother's and father's side.

http://www.realfooty.theage.com.au/realfooty/articles/2006/02/26/1140888748028.html

[Moi]

Thanks for that ppls.  Very frustrating turning on a program right at the end and it looked very interesting.  I saw the part where he said he contemplated suicide, and then they said the troubles with his upbringing, but they didn't elaborate.

He seems a pretty sensitive person and hopefully he can get over his injuries.  My dad hurt his back in the early '60s, before spinal fusion operations.  He spent 9 months of exhilarating pain in traction.  Suicide i'm sure crossed his mind at the time.  But in 1961 he had the first ever spinal fusion in Australia, and has been okay since.

I couldn't imagine what happened to Turley - who seemed to have everything going for him - to be like he is.

Footy does leave players sometimes crippled - Royce Hart comes to mind and i'm sure there's heaps more we haven't heard of.

[Bulluss]

It can be very hard not knowing exactly where you originated from. I myself was adopted as a baby and about 4 years ago now i made contact with my birth mother, who as it turned out had lived within close proximity to me for my whole life and neither of us knew.

Things between her and i worked out really well and we see each other very regularly, i suppose i would think of her now as the equivilant of a close auntie or something like that. Even though i know that she gave birth to me, i could never think of her as my mum. My adopted parents are my Mum and Dad and always will be.

Its interested meeting all of these new people could have been uncles/aunties and cousins. I am still to find my natural father, it is a path i want to go down but at this stage havent really done too much about it. My natural birth mother married really late and hence has never had any other children, so it will be interesting to see if i do find my natural father whether or not i do have some half brothers/sisters and if we do look alike.

It is something i must do soon, i am not fussed if things between my natural father and i dont work out as well as they have with my natural mother but atleast i know that i made every effort and hopefully will have atleast met up with him.

In saying all of that, i can understand the emotional roller coaster that Turley has travelled. I can say that i have never thought about ending my life.

[Moi]

My mum was adopted too.  She was told her natural mother died in childbirth and that her father died in a mining accident in South Africa prior to her birth.  Unfortunately, she was told by her stepmother in an argument - did not know until then - but to her, her parents were the ones who adopted her.  Her mum died and then her dad remarried.  Amazingly, after having that news broken, she got on very well with her step mother.  Never mentioned to her dad that she knew about her adoption.  She had a pretty charmed life and upbringing, so i guess she was a lucky one as well.

I'm glad you found your mum, Bully - that's awesome