I’LL NEVER BE THE SAME—HELENA WRIGHT’S SHATTERED HUSBAND SPEAKS OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME AS THE HIDDEN PAIN BEHIND THE FAMILY TRA-GEDY COMES TO LIGHT
The devastated husband of South Australian mother Helena Wright has broken his silence two weeks after she leapt from a clifftop with their two children in her arms.
Ms Wright, a deeply religious young mother originally from Estonia, fell from Cape Northumberland near Port MacDonnell on the morning of Monday, June 27, taking 23-month-old Hazel and three-month-old Lewis with her.
She and Hazel were found floating at the base of the cape. Ms Wright’s Isuzu SUV was discovered at the clifftop, its engine still running.
Lewis’ remains have never been found, and police confirmed they are investigating the tragedy as a murder-suicide.
Ms Wright’s husband Brad, an electrician who was seen leaving for work as normal just hours before his entire family died, fled their home in Compton, just outside Mt Gambier, and chose not to make a statement to the media.
But on Monday, he returned to social media with his first public post since his unfathomable loss, responding to a Facebook post by his local representative.
The Federal Liberal MP for Barker, Tony Pasin, shared a link to a GoFundMe created by a friend on behalf of the Wrights, and confirmed he had personally donated $200.
Among the handful of comments on Mr Pasin’s post was one from a profile with the handle ‘Bee Dubs’, which the Mail has independently verified belongs to Mr Wright.
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Brad Wright’s entire family perished when Helena Wright leapt from a cliff with her babies
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Local federal MP Tony Pasin shared a statement on Facebook on Sunday, as well as a link to a GoFundMe in support of the family
On Monday, Mr Wright, under the alias ‘Bee Dubs’, broke his silence in Mr Pasin’s comments
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Mr Pasin is a Mt Gambier man and the Federal Liberal Member for Barker in South Australia
‘Thank you, Tony. I appreciate you sharing this,’ Mr Wright commented.
It appears that Mr Pasin had been in close contact with the Wrights since the tragedy, with the GoFundMe’s organiser Adam Hockley, who describes himself as a ‘mate’ of ‘Helgs, Bradster, Hazo and Lou Lou’, also chiming in.
‘Thank you Tony, and thanks for the kind words the other day too. It’s much appreciated,’ Mr Hockley said.
Mr Pasin said: ‘The tragic loss of Helena, Hazel and Lewis Wright has deeply affected people across the Limestone Coast and beyond.
‘My thoughts are with Brad, the Wright family, Helena’s family in Estonia, their friends and everyone mourning this heartbreaking loss.
‘Friends of the family have established a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses, bring Helena’s family from Estonia to Australia, cover immediate costs and support Brad through the difficult period ahead.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Mr Pasin for comment.
More than $38,000 has been donated to the grieving husband and father. The fundraiser referenced his family’s religious beliefs.
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Mr and Mrs Wright married at the Mt Gambier Presbyterian Church
The Wrights had been among the younger members of the 100-strong Mt Gambier Presbyterian Church congregation
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According to a friend, Ms Wright ‘stepped off a cliff into the arms of her waiting saviour’
‘Helena stepped from a cliff with her beautiful babies in her arms into the arms of her waiting savior [sic],’ Mr Hockley wrote on the GoFundMe.
‘Man, the Lord provides, in this darkest hour, with broken Aussie families and mates from country south-east South Australia and further afield – even so far as Estonia, Denmark and the USA – providing love, support, lasagna, strong hugs, tears, immense pain, joy and true mateship,’ he said.
Locals previously told the Mail that the couple appeared to ‘church-hop’ during the final few years of Ms Wright’s life before settling on a ‘home church’ arrangement independent of organised religion.
The Wrights had been among the younger members of the 100-strong Mt Gambier Presbyterian Church congregation, and were married there in a ‘low-key wedding’ in 2023 by Pastor Gary Ware.
But church elders Graeme Hamilton and Roger Bannister said last week that they had left under mysterious circumstances not long after their wedding.
‘They were [members of the congregation] at one time but haven’t been for several years. We were very disappointed when they left,’ confirmed Mr Hamilton.
Mr Bannister described the Wrights as ‘an unusual couple in a lot of ways’.
‘She seemed quite sociable and keen to meet people – the older ladies at the church particularly embraced her,’ he said.
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Mr Wright, an electrician, has been described as a ‘tremendous father and husband’. Brad and Helena pose at a family wedding with his parents, Karen and Ian Wright
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Helena and Brad are pictured on a family camping trip, before having children, in Victoria
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He said that despite her Estonian background, she did not have a European-sounding accent, while Brad was more ‘staid and serious’.
Mr Bannister was surprised when the couple abruptly left the church, but suspected it was linked to ‘anti-authority’ beliefs sparked by living in Victoria during Covid lockdowns.
‘They’d had a rough time with the lockdowns and ended up being locked up in a motel and not able to go out,’ he said.
‘That was pretty authoritative for a young couple, and they didn’t enjoy that authority – that came across loud and clear.’
Mr Bannister believed the couple were ‘new Christians’, and may have felt the Presbyterian church was too strict for them.
‘I was surprised when they stepped away, and it made me wonder if we had maybe been a bit too authoritative for them,’ he said.
The Mail has previously reported that the Wrights had often ‘liked’ posts opposing lockdowns and Covid vaccinations.
Mr Hamilton said he didn’t want to speculate on why Ms Wright had leapt to her death with her babies, adding: ‘That is between her and the Lord.’
Presbyterian church elder Roger Bannister said the Wrights were ‘an unusual couple’
A neighbour told the Mail that the couple attended a Sunday service every weekend, and Mr Hamilton said he believed they had sought spiritual guidance elsewhere.
Mr Bannister said there were no signs of mental health issues with Ms Wright while she was a member of the Presbyterian Church, three years before the apparent murder-suicide.
‘It doesn’t make any sense,’ he said.
‘They were a lovely couple, and in the time they were with us, they made themselves right at home. Helena, in particular, slotted right in.’
The Wrights’ religious movements can be traced through at least two more local churches before settling on a less traditional method of worship.
A leader of the more youth-focused Liberty Church said they may have attended ‘a couple of times’ but confirmed they were not official members of that community.
Pastor Robert Cotton, leader of The Open Door Baptist Church, also confirmed that the couple joined his congregation about the time Hazel was born.
But he said they left a year ago, about the time Ms Wright fell pregnant with Lewis.
Pastor Cotton said the couple then joined a ‘home church’, adding that describing exactly what that meant was a ‘good question’.
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Emergency services were forced to end the search for baby Lewis’ remains
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How the search unfolded
It is understood the Wrights began gathering with like-minded people in the Mt Gambier community who shared their Christian beliefs but did not want to belong to a particular organisation.
Mr Wright is believed to be receiving support from his family at their home on the outskirts of Mt Gambier.
The apparent murder-suicide has rocked South Australia – not least because police have confirmed that Ms Wright attended the Mt Gambier police station the day before she killed herself and her children.
It’s understood she was pleading for help, but was told to go home and return the following day, perhaps due to the country station’s limited operational hours.
Police then responded to a request for a welfare check from a friend at 9.28am the morning of her death – but Ms Wright, her children and her vehicle were already gone from their home.
When contacted by the Daily Mail last week, Mr Wright’s father Ian refused to comment on why she presented at the police station the day before her death.
It is understood, via friends, that Ms Wright, who had given birth three months before the tragedy to her second child aged under two, had complained to loved ones of suffering from migraines and exhaustion.
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Ms Wright was close with her husband’s family, and is pictured here with his sister
Migraines are characterised by intense headaches, sensitivity to light and nausea.
A friend who confirmed Ms Wright’s health issues said that she did not know why she would have gone to the police the day before her death.
‘I do know she has struggled with headaches and being tired,’ the friend said.
‘Just normal [things for mums]. What mother isn’t tired with two [kids] under two?’
Cruel and false gossip has swirled around Mt Gambier, a city of 28,000 people in the state’s south-east, about what could have made a young mother jump from a cliff with her two babies.
Many blamed postnatal depression or psychosis, though authorities have provided no solid evidence that she suffered from either.
In the absence of information, utterly baseless speculation flourished on social media, where false allegations have been made.
But for the Wrights’ neighbour, who witnessed the fruitless welfare check on that harrowing Monday morning, the explanation for this abject tragedy is simple.
‘She was obviously troubled and obviously depressed,’ she said.
The neighbour vehemently rejected the false speculation about Mr Wright online, clarifying: ‘Brad was a tremendous father who adored his wife. It’s very disappointing what people are saying.
‘It’s absolutely horrendous. They are very private people… Hazel was the most beautiful little girl.’
Police investigations are continuing, with a report to be prepared for the coroner.
