‘I was just a kid who was hurt’: Harvey Bulls player Kaine Ah Chee on mental health and footy

Harvey Bulls recruit Kaine Ah-Chee was once on the brink of realising his AFL dream. A supremely talented youngster growing up in Pinjarra, and briefly Bunbury, Ah-Chee watched on as second cousins Brendon and Callum Ah Chee and close friends Harley Bennell and Nathan Wilson all made their way to the elite level. But the suicide of his mother Karen Marie Ah-Chee when he was just 15, led the Peel Thunder colt down an errant path away from football — which came to a head just two years ago, when he tried to take his own life. Now the 25-year-old hopes his story of hardship and redemption can inspire others who are battling their own demons. “Getting drafted and playing AFL was always the goal,” he said. “Everyone thinks they should have made it and I did feel like that. “It has a big impact on your mind and on your mental health.” Ah-Chee said the high expectations he held for himself and his footballing career became a burden during a two-year stint playing senior footy at the Thunder in 2018 and 2019. “A lot of the stuff that was giving me problems were pressures that resulted from being in the WAFL system,” he said. “I had a dream (to play AFL) and when things aren’t going right it really sets you back. “During 2018 I did something where I tried to take my own life. “It was my own internal pressure and the importance I placed on trying to make people like my dad and my family proud.” Ah-Chee made his colts debut at the Thunder at just 16 years old but as he struggled to deal with his mother’s death, he fell in to a life of partying and his attention was pulled away from his footballing ambitions. “Mum took her own life, she just had her own demons that she couldn’t work through,” he said. “I didn’t deal very well when Mum died. I had a few off-field indiscretions and I sort of mucked things up for myself a bit. “It still hurts, and it will always hurt, but I had to learn not to use it as an excuse, to learn to live with it and to move forward.” Ah-Chee, who played two league games at the Thunder during his time at the club, said there were things he would do differently if given the chance to start his football journey again. “If I had the chance to start over I wouldn’t have done the whole party thing,” he said. “I would have put my head down and worked as hard as I could, like I saw my brother boys do.” With his dream slipping away, Ah-Chee went to Kalgoorlie in a bid to get back on the straight and narrow. After returning to the Tigers in 2016 and winning a premiership the following year, he soon found himself back in the fold at Rushton Park. “I worked really hard when I got back to Pinjarra and put in a good pre-season because I wanted to get my fitness back,” he said. “Peel Thunder had always asked me to come back to the club and before the 2017 season I thought ‘I’ve just won a league flag, I might as well go back and give it a crack’. Having missed the 2019 season after his failed suicide attempt, Ah-Chee headed to Brookton/Pingelly Football Club in a bid to rekindle a love for the sport which had been so central to his life — before landing in the South West Football League with the Harvey Bulls. After a final-quarter goal against Bunbury earlier this season, he pointed to the black armband on his left bicep and looked to the heavens. It has been 10 years now since his mother’s death, and this game was played on May 9 — Mother’s Day. “I used to love her watching me play and how that would make her feel,” he said. “It was just such a proud moment and something I can now show my own daughter and my missus.” Now with a young family, Ah-Chee has found his passion for the sport again, and having committed to at least one more season in Harvey, is itching to see how high the resurgent SWFL club can go. He said he would be forever grateful for the support he received at Peel Thunder and hopes his story can help other aspiring athletes. “I am really grateful for the experience at Peel Thunder and everything they did for me, but it just wasn’t right for me at the time,” he said. “During my first stint there (playing colts), I wasn’t as open as I am now. “It was hard for me to put these things into words — I was just a kid who was hurt and you can’t put an old head on young shoulders. “Mental health is always a hard road but no matter how dark it gets, there is always a light.” Lifeline 13 11 14