{"id":634536,"date":"2026-04-27T17:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634536\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T17:56:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T17:56:10","slug":"elijah-hollands-dad-ben-reveals-struggle-after-sons-admission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/634536\/","title":{"rendered":"Elijah Hollands\u2019 dad Ben reveals struggle after son\u2019s admission"},"content":{"rendered":"

The father of Elijah Hollands<\/a> has posted a powerful message saying he \u201chit a wall\u201d after his son\u2019s admission to hospital.<\/p>\n

Former AFL player Ben Hollands, the father of Carlton pair Elijah and Ollie, said he has been seeking support from a wider community after realising \u201cas a man and as a dad I\u2019ve carried too much more that I can count.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man of faith went on to say he realised he had to let go to move forward as he has been seeking clarity down in Portsea in the wake of his son\u2019s mental health battles.<\/p>\n

He has been seeking solace by taking walks on the beach, leaning into his religious faith and journal writing.<\/p>\n

Carlton coach Michael Voss on Thursday gave a press conference launching a passionate defence at how the club had handled the situation claiming staff had been bullied by the media.<\/p>\n

Hollands said it was on Thursday that he \u201chit the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLast Thursday I hit a wall,\u201d Ben Hollands posted on Monday to social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeep down, I knew it was coming.<\/p>\n

A lot of people had warned me, but it was my boys, strong wise beyond their years, who said it most clearly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I was striving for didn\u2019t need to be the priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I was leading.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing strong. Setting the example.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut in that moment my leadership had to look different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was simpler.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was healing. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was rest.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot just for me, for all of us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a man and as a dad, I\u2019ve carried too much more than I can count.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m learning, truly learning, the importance of letting go.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf sharing the load.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf stepping back.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf remaining strong in my faith in the pause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI took that rest, and I feel it.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearer. Lighter. Rejuvenated.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in that space I\u2019ve been able to see the last week for what it really was \u2014 an incredible outpouring of love, support and strength around us.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I continue to lead my family, I now understand something deeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeadership isn\u2019t just knowing when to step forward, it\u2019s knowing when to let go.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo hand things over.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo seek rest when it\u2019s needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis journey, back to alignment, to restoration, isn\u2019t something to carry alone.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something to share.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elijah Hollands was admitted to hospital last week, four days after his erratic performance that was described as \u201cmental health episode\u201d in Thursday night\u2019s loss to Collingwood.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old has a history of mental health battles and off-field challenges, which threatened to derail his career last year before he fought to win his way back onto Carlton\u2019s list ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Ollie Hollands travelled to Perth with his teammates over the weekend, but was a late withdrawal from Saturday night\u2019s clash against Fremantle.<\/p>\n

After the game Voss said it had been a testing time for the youngster and decided as a team it was best he didn\u2019t play.<\/p>\n

Ben Hollands, who played eight games for Richmond in 1999, delivered another emotional social media post after his son was admitted to hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my beautiful boy,\u201d he posted with an image of a smiling Elijah wearing a Carlton jumper.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor anyone in the midst of healing … you are loved.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a unique and defined purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are seen whole.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The father of Elijah Hollands has posted a powerful message saying he \u201chit a wall\u201d after his son\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[64,63,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-634536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634536","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=634536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}