THE sister of former WA cricketer and Channel Nine The Footy Show host James Brayshaw has been crushed to death in Melbourne when bricks from a garage wall collapsed on top of her.
Sally Brayshaw, the daughter of WA Sheffield Shield cricket legend and sports journalist Ian Brayshaw, grew up in Perth.
She was fatally injured in the freak accident when the top row of bricks from the front wall of her garage fell on her at about 7.30pm last night, police said.
The 36-year-old had just closed the garage door at her house in Gerona Street, Keilor, in Melbourne's northwest. She was discovered by relatives who heard the noise of the falling bricks.
They began CPR but she could not be revived by ambulance crews who arrived a short time later.
Police will prepare a report for the coroner.
A devastated James Brayshaw will be absent ffrom tonight's episode of The Footy Show, his manager Liz Adams told PerthNow.
Brayshaw, who began co-hosting the top-rating program with Garry Lyon this season, was known to speak fondly of his sister on his Melbourne radio program.
“It’s a tragic, unthinkable accident. The family is absolutely devastated. We hope that everyone can respect our privacy at this difficult time,” James Brayshaw said in a statement released by Adams Management.
Ian Brayshaw was one of WA's best ever cricketing all-rounders, once taking 10 wickets for 44 in a match for WA. He played league football for Claremont in the 1960s.
His son Mark Brayshaw also played football for Claremont and was a Kangaroos AFL player.
James Brayshaw, who played cricket for WA and South Australia, worked for the Seven Network in Adelaide in the 1990s and now lives and works in Melbourne, where he has a morning radio show and co-hosts The Footy Show .
The Footy Show screens on Channel Nine tonight at 9.30pm.
http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,20450894-948,00.html
