Former Melbourne captain Brad Green loses young wife to heart attack
Anna and Brad Green at the 2011 Brownlow Medal at Crown Palladium. Photo: Getty
The AFL community is rallying around former Melbourne captain Brad Green after the sudden death of his young wife Anna Green.
Mrs Green, a lifestyle blogger, died on Monday. Demons champion Green, 38, publicly confirmed the shock loss of his wife and mother of their sons Oliver, 9, and Wilba, 7, on his Instagram account.
“Goodbyes are not forever, are not the end,” he wrote.
“It simply means, I’ll miss you until we meet again. Rest easy my darling #xxx3boys.”
In a statement on Tuesday, her family said she died peacefully “surrounded by her immediate family” after a heart attack last week.
It’s understood Mrs Green had suffered a cardiac arrest during an operation and had since been in intensive care at The Alfred hospital.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we confirm the passing of beloved mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend Anna Green,” the family statement said.
On Instagram, the former Virgin Australia flight attendant called herself a “lover of sunshine, palm trees, yoga, beaches, travel, sunsets, cocktails, style”.
She shared in March, “Cheers to this never ending summer”, and in another post said she was “full of sun, salt and Aperol Spritz”.
In one of her last Instagram posts, on April 16, Mrs Green wrote of a photo of herself at the beach, “You can find me where the music meets the ocean”.
Mrs Green reportedly worked in the fashion industry for years in sales, management and fit-modelling before starting her own accessories label Wilo Green in 2012.
She said in 2016 that after having a career break to have her sons, “I found my passion again and wanted to create something I could manage around my children as well as combine my creative side”.
Wrote Mrs Green, “I was now ready to create a new adventure for my myself and embrace fashion as a mumma”.
Both from northern Tasmania, Anna and Brad Green had “known each other all our lives,” he said.
But they didn’t become romantically involved until they “bumped into each other” at a time he thought his football career was his main focus: “We caught up for dinner and just went from there.”
Mrs Green often posted photos of her boys on social media. “Little loves,” she posted on February 21 of a snap of Oliver and Wilba smiling into the camera.
Another February shot was captioned, “You will outgrow my lap but never my heart”.
Fashion label J’Aton Couture founders Jacob Luppino and Anthony Pittorino recalled “Divine Anna” as an incredible woman who words “could not describe,” on Instagram.
“In our hearts forever.”
Jerri Jones, the wife of Melbourne star Nathan Jones, also posted an Instagram tribute on Tuesday.
“Terribly heartbroken. Rest easy beautiful Anna. She’ll have a place in my heart forever”.
Green debuted for the Demons in 2000 and took on the captain’s role in 2010. He retired in 2012.
Fan page DeeBrief posted on Facebook it was “devastated” by the news of Mrs Green’s death and urged her husband to “stay strong”.
“Anna leaves behind two sons, a husband and distraught family and friends. Our sincerest condolences are with Brad, his children and everyone affected by this horrible news.”
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