Tall Ferns player Mary Goulding is out of critical condition. Photo / Tall Ferns
Tall Ferns player Mary Goulding is out of critical condition. Photo / Tall Ferns
Tall Ferns defender, Mary Goulding who nearly died following a recent car crash, sent a video message from the hospital encouraging her teammates during their European tour.
Goulding was critically injured following the crash in late May, her family told the Herald she was placed in an induced coma and wasn’t believed to survive the first four days.
However, the athlete had been taking positive steps forward in recovery and is now out of critical condition.
The Tall Ferns camp, currently training in Istanbul after competing in friendlies against Serbia, Poland and Turkey confirmed Goulding sent them a video message ahead of their second game against Serbia.
It was the first time the side had seen Goulding since the Canterbury crash, in the video Goulding thanked her teammates for their ongoing support and encouraged the girls to “go hard” on the court.
A statement from the team said the video surprised the squad.
The Tall Ferns camp are training in Istanbul after competing in friendlies against Serbia, Poland and Turkey. Photo / FIBA
Goulding’s parents, Tim and Jennifer, said in the statement that once Mary awoke from her coma she was keen to send something to Tall Ferns head coach Guy Molloy and the wider team.
“It was the first thing she wanted to do that day, she had read the article about the team [in Europe] and wanted to encourage the girls,” Jennifer Goulding said.
In response, the Tall Ferns have put together a video of their own for Goulding - with messages from each member of the squad.
The Tall Ferns will shortly fly back to New Zealand to continue their build-up for the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup, tipping off from June 26 in Sydney.
Mary is one of six siblings, her family is spread across the world - with siblings as far as London and Toronto.
One of her sisters, Georgia, told the Herald that Mary’s competitive side taught her how to compete without the physical edge as a younger sibling.
“She’s clever, she has a real sports intuition and would work out how to beat you even if you’re ten times stronger. And then she did grow bigger and stronger.”
Messages of support have flooded in from across the world. In Perth, a fundraiser was organised in her honour by one of her former teams.
Georgia would receive texts from people she’d never met, telling her they’d met Mary at some point and she’d impacted them in some way.
The family is processing the situation in different ways, but the mindset is if anybody has the strength to recover, it’s Mary.
“[She’s] the strongest person we know - physically, mentally, the optimism comes from the fact she’s got it tough, the whole world is praying for her and we’ll be part of that.”
