From the outside, Opals star Alex Bunton looked like she had it all.
A silver medal from the 2018 World Cup, a beautiful daughter — aptly named Opal — and, last October, a triumphant return to the basketball court for Canberra in the WNBL after 11 knee surgeries.
But just 12 months after she stood on the podium in Spain with her Australian teammates, Bunton was isolated, broken and living in fear.
For the first time, in an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, the 196cm centre has revealed her horrific experience with domestic violence at the hands of her former partner, while pregnant with his child.
The pair met in Sydney in early 2019, and while they quickly became besotted with each other, red flags began to show after a few months.
Around others and in public, he was charming; in private, Bunton said she’d wake to him checking her phone, and he actively encouraged her to retire from the sport she loved and told her that she “didn’t need” her family.
“He had a huge impact on how I felt about retiring and convinced me nobody would really care if I just moved on which created this idea that it wasn’t a comfortable environment for me any more,” Bunton told The Daily Telegraph.
“He’d tell me he’d support me and be there, that I didn’t need my family.”
The abuse was mental and emotional at first, but also financial.
“You might think it’s simple, just say no, but when they’re manipulative and abusive it becomes scary if you don’t do it,” she explained.
Bunton’s situation steadily escalated, building to the point “where I was pregnant and getting things thrown at me. I’d get things broken right at the side of my head.”
But on August 8, 2019, it hit a terrifying peak when Bunton asked why so many notifications were buzzing on her then-partner’s phone.
“He took the phone, pushed me down and strangled me to the point I almost lost consciousness,” she recalled.
“He hit me pretty hard, and I just had to pretend I was OK so I could get out. I was saying I couldn’t breathe, I was crying. He asked why I was crying, pretending nothing had happened.
“I got to the bathroom and my neck was red. I took photos of it. I knew something in me was getting prepared to leave because I took photos, I had evidence.
“I didn’t think he’d hurt me because I was pregnant but the last episode of abuse was physical abuse.”
Bunton, with her parents’ support, went to the police and years of court dates followed.
Last April, Bunton’s former partner was convicted and received a suspended sentence and probation in the ACT Magistrates court for two counts of assault creating actual bodily harm.
He was also charged and convicted of one count of intentionally choking, suffocating or strangling.
Bunton told The Daily Telegraph that the 2020 birth of her daughter, who turns two next month, “saved me in a lot of ways”.
“I didn’t have time to dwell, some days were harder than others but I’d just look at her and think, ‘it’s just you and me and we’re going to be OK’,” she said.
“I found strength to be a single mum and I’m proud of myself.
“My parents have been so good with Opal and my rock when everything seemed to be falling apart.”
Her return to basketball — playing for Canberra’s UC Capitals, where she first got her start — was not just a physical triumph, but a mental one.
“I almost didn’t come back to basketball because I was so afraid of judgment, being misunderstood and the stigma around the domestic violence,” Bunton explained.
“After being through it I now know I have nothing to be ashamed of. It’s not me, it’s something I’ve been through.
“I wanted to play again because I wanted to find myself again.”
More Coverage
One of the reasons she’s sharing her own harrowing experience is to “help make people on the outside understand those who are trapped on the inside”.
“Every time I’ve done something, gone to the police, court, doing this interview, it’s not just for me, it’s for other women going through the same thing,” Bunton said.
“Once you reach out, the pathway clears or you. You just have to keep going, keep crawling out.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ70qmmq6xfqL2wvtOsZKWhlpp8osHSramapJmWu267z5qjrGWTna6uvMiopWaZnJrFbq7Up6uopl2nsrexwKWqZpyforK0wMicZK%2Bhn6Gyr6%2FEZp%2BepJxku6bD0maqraeirnyjhZOaaXFtZ2uFcbHAn21waWCZf3Gwk25pbZlmmIZzsQ%3D%3D