Former Olympian Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin has died in a spearfishing incident at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast.
The snowboarding legend was spearfishing off 19th Ave at Palm Beach. It has been reported that he suffered a shallow water blackout at around 10:30 am.
Justin Payne, a Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) officer in Coolangatta, said emergency services responded to a call just after 10:30 am. Pullin was spotted by another spearfisherman who noticed an unresponsive body on the ocean floor, and promptly alerted lifeguards. Officials reportedly performed CPR for 45 minutes but were unable to revive Pullin.
“The QAS received a phone call to support the lifeguards down here, where they were attempting to retrieve and resuscitate a 32-year-old male, who was found on the bottom of the ocean,” Mr Payne shared via ABC.
“The patient was found at the bottom of the reef, [and] was brought to the top by another snorkeller and brought in by lifeguards.
“The resuscitation attempt was for approximately 45 to 50 minutes with CPR the entire time. Unfortunately, the patient [did not] survive. At the time paramedics were on scene, we were unable to locate anyone who knew the patient, so we just had to treat [him] with the conditions we found.”
The incident is currently under police investigation.
Alex “Chumpy” Pullin was a dual snowboard cross world champion, who represented Australia as the flag-bearer at the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
Pullin participated at three Winter Olympic Games, in Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.
Australia’s winter sports body Snow Australia has released a statement, paying tribute to the late athlete.
“Our deepest condolences are with Alex’s family, as well as his teammates and support staff,” Snow Australia shared. “Alex was a beloved member of the Snow Australia community and he will be dearly missed.”
