Ian Thorpe 'planning to flee Australia'

Ian Thorpe's mother says the swimming legend may flee Australia to escape the media scrutiny surrounding recent reports about his health.

Margaret Thorpe said her family were "very, very angry" over reports that Thorpe was being treated in rehab for depression and alcohol abuse.

Mrs Thorpe said her son is now considering leaving Sydney permanently, to move to his home in Switzerland: "he loves living in Switzerland – he's left alone."

Thrope has been living in Switzerland for the past 18 months and only recently came back to Australia to celebrate Christmas with his family.

Her comments come after the five-time Olympic gold medallist was admitted to hospital on Wednesday night after injuring himself in a fall, believed to be related to his well-publicised battle against depression and alcohol abuse.

Thorpe, 31, himself documented his struggle against what he described as "crippling depression" in his autobiography published last year.

"I used alcohol as a means to rid my head of terrible thoughts, as a way of managing my moods," he wrote.

"I did it behind closed doors, where many depressed people choose to fight their demons before they realise they can't do it without help.

"There were numerous occasions as I trained to defend my Olympic titles in Athens that I abused myself this way — always alone and in a mist of disgrace. It's like a weight is pressing down on you. There are days when you just can't get out of bed. You cannot face the world."

Mrs Thorpe, however, denies that her son's demons were behind his recent hospital visit: "You can imagine how you would feel if you'd gone in for something relatively simple and it’s portrayed that he's in rehab for depression and alcohol.

"Yes he suffers from depression, he admits that, but he's not in rehab."

Source: Daily Telegraph

Author: Natasha Lee, Approving editor: Martin Zavan