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Home / Sport

AFL fan forced to dash after her water breaks during game

By Ally Foster of news.com.au
news.com.au·
25 Sep, 2017 08:54 PM2 mins to read

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Tigers fans celebrate on the final siren during the 2017 AFL Second Preliminary Final match. Photo / Getty

Tigers fans celebrate on the final siren during the 2017 AFL Second Preliminary Final match. Photo / Getty

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One devout Richmond Tigers fan wasn't going to let anything stop her from cheering on her team at the MCG on Saturday, not even when the game coincided with the day her baby was due to be born.

In a true show of dedication, Ashlee Sanders made the decision to attend the AFL preliminary final between Richmond and Greater Western Sydney, but she only made it to the second quarter before her waters broke.

Sanders, who hasn't seen her club win a grand final in 27 years, told the Triple M breakfast show hosts that she "thought [she] had a couple of days up her sleeve" before her delivery so she would be fine.

"I hadn't thought about it at all and I was sitting there with my brother in law and my waters broke and he just looked at me and thought 'Oh, you're kidding'," she said.

Sanders then had to make her way through the 95,000 strong crowd and rush past the line of women waiting for the toilets.

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She told Triple M that other than one woman who didn't want to let her through, the rest of the ladies were very understanding and let her go ahead of them.

After calling her partner Heath to come and pick her up, Sanders, wanting to catch as much of the game as she could, went back to her seat and watched for another quarter.

"There was no point rushing because Heath was going to be a little while so I went back up and watched and we ducked off just before half time," she said.

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Sanders was then rushed to the hospital by her partner where she gave birth to Archer, a healthy baby boy.

"[The labour] was about 14 hours in the end. He decided he wanted to come and watch the game and then when I left he decided he wanted to stay in there."

Tiger's player Jack Riewoldt joked that Ashlee should have stayed to see the rest of the game, after being told about hers story during a press conference on Sunday morning.

"She didn't hang around to watch the game? That's not commitment, we don't want those kinds of supporters," he said.

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Sport

Tears flow as Tigers make AFL history with 'fairytale' win

30 Sep 07:44 AM

The Tigers will have a new supporter in little Archer to cheer them on when they face off against Adelaide in the grand final on Saturday.

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