Olympian Lisa Curry has opened up about the “red flags” she saw in her late daughter Jaimi Kenny in the years before her tragic death at just 33.
Ms Curry said her daughter had been diagnosed with a “chemical imbalance” as a teenager and died after “many years of ups and downs” with her health.
“I know people want to know why and how, but it’s not important at this time, or maybe ever, I don’t know,” she wrote.
“What I will say though is that Jeff (Butterworth) diagnosed her with a chemical imbalance 18 years ago when we started to see some tiny red flags.
“Sometimes, an individual, even adults like us, can disregard little red flags, thinking it doesn’t matter or won’t matter.”
Ms Kenny, the daughter of champion swimmer Curry and ironman Grant Kenny, died on September 14 after a private health battle.
In the post published in the Happy Hormones Facebook group on Monday, Curry said she was still grappling with her eldest child’s death.
“We held Jaimi when she took her first breath and we held her as she took her last. I still can’t believe it, it doesn’t seem real,” she said.
“It’s given me the heaviest heart. Some days I can’t even get out of bed or function.”
She urged those in the group not to ignore their own “red flags” that she said could “add up to slowly erode your whole being … to the point where you may only be existing and not really living”.
Those warning signs included “life’s small neglects” such as poor food choices, a lack of attention to stressful situations, being inactive, living with or around toxic people, and how you interact with others.
“Don’t wait until it’s too late to make changes … do it now while you can … starting right now,” she said.
“Recognise the little red flags. Don’t live your life in turmoil, regret or guilt.”
It has been widely reported Ms Kenny had struggled with depression and alcohol abuse in recent years following the death of her partner Lachy Crossley in 2017.
Her parents said in a statement confirming Ms Kenny’s passing in September she had “lost her battle with a long-term illness and passed away peacefully in hospital”.
Curry would later tell The Saturday Telegraph her daughter died after a “lengthy and complex alcohol-related health battle”.
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