Olympic champion Lisa Curry has shared a moving tribute to her late daughter Jaimi on the fifth anniversary of her passing, reflecting on the enduring grief of losing a child.
Jaimi, who she shared with former husband Grant Kenny, died in 2020 at the age of 33 following a long and painful battle with an eating disorder and alcoholism.
On Instagram over the weekend, Curry poured out her heart to her followers, saying the family still feels the weight of loss but are learning to find moments of lightness.
“The grief started before she was gone. Not knowing when or if that awful day would ever come,” she wrote. “Living with hope, living in fear. It was all consuming. The slow and inevitable breaking of our hearts as we watched our baby fade away.
“And even though she still kept smiling right to the end, we could see the sadness in her eyes and we knew she was slipping away.”
Curry described watching Jaimi take her last breath as a memory that remains etched into her and Kenny’s minds.
“We held onto every last second we had with her. That last breath is so vivid in our minds. The little bubble Grant and I were in, in that moment, is forever within us,” she wrote.
Marking five years since her daughter’s death, the 63-year-old said the family is slowly finding ways to move forward, though Jaimi is never far from their thoughts.
“It’s been 5 years today and even though we are still sad inside and always will be, we feel lighter, able to smile, laugh and continue on… and breathe… and as long as we breathe, we will remember our beautiful Jaimi,” she said.
The post concluded with a raw admission: “We’re so sorry we couldn’t save you. We will all remember you today in our own ways. Forever young and beautiful. We love you Jaimi.”
Earlier this year, Curry revealed harrowing details of Jaimi’s final days, recalling the moment she was hospitalised after vomiting blood and placed on a ventilator. She remembered pleading with her daughter to open her eyes, but there was no response. Jaimi’s kidneys soon shut down, and doctors told her mother to prepare for the worst.
Curry has since used her platform to speak openly about eating disorders and the urgent need for more effective support systems, appearing on Australian Story in 2022 to call for change.
“Why are people falling through the gaps?” she said at the time. “It is complex and it is difficult and it is this toxic beast – that is what I call it – that takes over somebody’s mind.
“If I had the answer, I would shout it to the world, but we don’t have the answers yet and I struggle with that.”
Images: Instagram
