NRL fans rally around Sam Thaiday after Broncos legend goes public with heartbreaking reveal
The 39-year-old is a Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Maroons champion.
NRL fans are praising Sam Thaiday for his bravery after the Brisbane Broncos legend revealed on national TV on Tuesday night that he once contemplated suicide. The Broncos and Queensland Maroons icon is one of a number of Aussie sporing stars on this year’s season of ‘I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here’.
On Tuesday night’s episode, the celebs were asked about why they’d decided to enter the jungle and the charities they’d chosen for the potential prize-money to go to. The 39-year-old spoke bravely about wanting to help the ‘Find Your Feet’ charity because of how it resonated him and his own struggles.
Thaiday, who played 304 games for the Broncos as well as 29 State of Origin games for Queensland and 32 Test matches for Australia, said he could have benefited from such a charity when he was younger. “My charity is called Find Your Feet. It’s run by a guy named Tommy Herschel,” he told the other celebs.
He goes into schools and helps young boys, and he gives them a safe place to share their feelings and talk about how they’re feeling. I sat in on one of his sessions and to hear how brave some of these young boys were in opening up and sharing their stories about what was going on in their lives.”
Sam Thaiday opens up on personal struggles
Thaiday made the heartbreaking admission that he contemplated suicide when he was a teenager. “As a 13-year-old boy, I wanted to take my own life, and I wish I had someone like Tommy around to let me know that it was okay to talk about my feelings. As a young kid, I really struggled to find my place.
I found myself too white to be black and too black to be white, and didn’t know where I fit in. And if I had someone like Tommy Herschel in my life as a young kid, maybe I would have shared a lot of these stories a lot earlier in my life.
“He’s a bit of a one-man band at the moment, and I just thought he needed help. So that’s why I’m in here. And hopefully even, like, I don’t even have to win it, I just want to raise some awareness for him, I want people talking about it.”
