Family seek help to find ‘disturbed’ Olympian

Grant Hackett’s family say they have no idea where their son is and have appealed to the public to help find him.

Speaking outside their Gold Coast home where the 36-year-old former Olympian was arrested on Wednesday night, Grant’s father Nev said he didn’t know where his son was. All he knew was his son was not at a nearby private hospital.

The swimming champion was “very depressed and not in a good condition” when he was last seen at the Versace Hotel on the Gold Coast at 7.30am yesterday.

“We can’t find Grant,” he said. “We’re extremely worried about him. His doctor can’t find him, he hasn’t kept an appointment with his lawyer.

“When we spoke to him hours ago he just hung up when we asked him where he was.

“We believe at best he’s probably in a hotel somewhere on the Gold Coast, that would be the best scenario I could imagine.

“He’s definitely a missing person,” said his father. “He’s mentally disturbed and needs urgent help.”

Queensland Police could not confirm whether he had been formally reported missing.

Earlier yesterday, the troubled former swimming star took to Instagram to share a photo of his bloodied and bruised eye.

In the post, he made allegations that his brother Craig “is an angry man” who “beat” him. It’s not clear when the photograph was taken but the 36-year-old did not appear to have the facial injuries when he was arrested. The Hackett family refused to comment on the accusations that their sons came to blows.

The Instagram post comes a day after Grant broke down in his parents’ Mermaid Beach home. It was there that he is believed to have become a “danger”, according to family.

Witnesses say he was thrusting a knife into a chopping board when his family called emergency services.

Hackett was pictured being driven to a Gold Coast watchhouse in the back of a police car.

Craig Hackett said the swimming champion had gone from someone with “the world at his feet” to the point where “we don’t know what’s going to happen”.

Craig admitted the family no longer knew how to deal with Grant’s erratic behaviour.

“He’s a danger to himself. He’s a danger to the community,” Craig said. “The Grant Hackett that Australia fell in love with, they can still have that affection towards him. This is not Grant Hackett. his is a completely different person. I don’t know this person, my mum and dad don’t know this person,” he said.