Michelle Payne spoke about her tragic family life during an intimate interview on Anh’s Brush with Fame on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old Melbourne Cup-winning jockey revealed her heartbreak after losing her mother in a car accident and later losing her sister after a horse riding accident.
Although she was just six months old when her mother, Mary, died, Michelle revealed she would often stand on the balcony at home and call out for her.
Sad story: Michelle Payne spoke about her tragic family life during an intimate interview on Anh’s Brush with Fame on Tuesday. Pictured with host Anh Do
Michelle said she was sometimes picked on by her older siblings, and wasn’t receiving the comfort she sought from her father, Paddy.
‘Dad was always busy, and I’d go whinging to Dad and he’d sort of be like, “You’ll be OK,” and send me off,’ she explained.
‘So I think I used to go out and stand on the balcony and call out to Mum to come back home.
Double tragedy: The 35-year-old Melbourne Cup-winning jockey revealed her heartbreak after losing her mother in a car accident and later losing her sister after a horse riding accident. Pictured after winning the Melbourne Cup in November 2015
‘Which is heartbreaking, I would imagine, for my dad to hear that, but I think that was just a way of coping at the time.’
Michelle revealed that her mother was ‘killed instantly’ after being hit by another driver while taking the older children to school one morning.
In a tragic twist, she said her dad was supposed to do the school run, but he’d gotten caught up on the phone.
‘Dad would sort of be like, “You’ll be OK,” and send me off. So I think I used to go out and stand on the balcony and call out to Mum to come back home,’ she explained. Pictured with her dad, Paddy, and brother, Stevie, at the premiere of Ride Like A Girl in Melbourne in September 2019
She admitted that even though she can’t remember anything about the accident, she often thinks about her dad being told the devastating news.
‘Your life partner, who you’ve had all these children with… that bond and that closeness with somebody is just gone forever,’ she reflected.
Michelle said her father would tell her about her mum every day, and even though she never got to know her, she still feels her presence.
Devastating: Although she was just six months old when her mother, Mary, died, Michelle revealed she would often stand on the balcony at home and call out for her. Pictured during the Melbourne Cup in November 2015
The family experienced tragedy once again in January 2007, when Michelle’s sister, Brigid, died following a horse riding accident at the age of 36.
Michelle revealed Brigid had suffered a head injury, and while she was initially okay, she suffered a seizure six months later and died after going into cardiac arrest.
She said her sister’s sudden death left her feeling ‘numb’, and the shocked jockey then had to break the tragic news to her father.
More loss: The family experienced tragedy once again in January 2007, when Michelle’s sister, Brigid, died following a horse riding accident at the age of 36. Pictured with Stevie at the Melbourne Cup in November 2015
‘I had to tell him, “She’s passed away,” and he didn’t hear me the first time. I was like, “Oh, Dad, she didn’t make it, she passed away,”‘ she recounted.
‘And he kept talking and I had to say it again, and he was just in shock because he still thought there was hope that she was going to be fine.
‘I remember all night, he was up, he couldn’t sleep. He was like, “Your children aren’t supposed to go before you.” It was just… it was awful.’
Heartbreaking: She said her sister’s sudden death left her feeling ‘numb’, and the shocked jockey then had to break the tragic news to her father. Pictured on Anh’s Brush with Fame