{"id":620362,"date":"2026-04-21T01:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620362\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T01:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T01:34:12","slug":"father-of-carlton-player-posts-heartfelt-message-after-mental-health-episode","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/620362\/","title":{"rendered":"Father of Carlton player posts heartfelt message after mental health episode"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Danny Russell\" data-testid=\"author-avatar-image\" height=\"64\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/14200608ab3621357a740646c1e6f58c8cefb511.png\"  width=\"64\" class=\"sc-9a01536c-0 libeSR\"\/><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"article-datetime\" class=\"sc-5cbbddda-5 hxoHkT\">April 21, 2026 \u2014 10:33am<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-369d9219-1 bOiPYX\">Save this article for later<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-369d9219-2 bufJxo\">Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n<p>Got it<\/p>\n<p>AAA<\/p>\n<p>The father of Elijah Hollands has posted a heartfelt message in support of his struggling son, saying he will \u201clift him up until he is restored in full\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Hollands, who turns 24 on Saturday, <a class=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/afl\/carlton-blues-say-elijah-hollands-has-been-admitted-to-hospital-20260420-p5zpk2.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has been admitted to a Melbourne hospital<\/a> following a \u201cmental health\u201d episode during Thursday night\u2019s clash between Carlton and Collingwood at the MCG.<\/p>\n<p>His father, Ben, released a note on Instagram this morning alongside a portrait picture of his son in Carlton football gear handballing a football.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is my beautiful boy,\u201d the message says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor anyone in the midst of healing \u2026 You are loved. You have a unique and defined purpose. You are seen whole.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know who my son is \u2014 and I will lift him up until he is restored in full.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A photo posted on Instagram by Ben Hollands (centre) with his sons Ollie (left) and Elijah (right).\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/48fa4f599e94558467ac83b524ef7aa559bc5698.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ldCIuB\"\/>A photo posted on Instagram by Ben Hollands (centre) with his sons Ollie (left) and Elijah (right).Instagram<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor those supporting someone who is struggling: encourage them, affirm them, and love them.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGo to them, remind them of who they truly are \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Related Article<a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/sport\/afl\/why-carlton-could-get-a-hefty-fine-and-the-questions-the-afl-wants-answered-20260420-p5zpjo.html\" tabindex=\"-1\" class=\"sc-cba76dee-0 hdiTqm\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Elijah Hollands (right) with Blues coach Michael Voss after the loss to Collingwood.\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776735252_402_8da24a6e70ab8f812b86274685174d354cd2195f.jpeg\"  class=\"sc-d34e428-1 ioInpc\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ben Hollands played eight games for Richmond in 1999. He was initially recruited by the Sydney Swans from North Albury.<\/p>\n<p>His sons, Elijah and Ollie, were reunited at Carlton at the start of 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Elijah crossed from the Gold Coast after being taken by the Suns at pick 14 in the 2020 draft. Ollie was taken by Carlton at pick four in the 2023 national draft.<\/p>\n<p>Both boys grew up playing football in the Albury-Wodonga region.<\/p>\n<p>Save<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-d1b14060-4 JmUoF\">You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n<p>Remove items from your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smh.com.au\/goodfood\/saved\" class=\"sc-3f16ee48-12 sc-d1b14060-2 jyLmZI iQLtAb\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n<p>From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"April 21, 2026 \u2014 10:33am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":620363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-620362","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/620363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}