Troy Broadbridge

Troy Broadbridge
Personal information
Full name	Troy Broadbridge
Date of birth	(1980-10-05)5 October 1980
Date of death	26 December 2004(2004-12-26) (aged 24)
Place of death	Phi Phi Islands, Thailand
Original team(s)	Port Adelaide (SANFL)
Height	191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb)
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1999–2004	Melbourne	40 (2)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2004.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Troy Broadbridge (5 October 1980 – 26 December 2004) was an Australian rules footballer with the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Broadbridge began his career as a defender with Port Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), and was drafted by the Melbourne Football Club at the beginning of the 2001 AFL season. He won the club's Most Improved Player award in 2001, and became a regular in the side, playing a total of 40 games over his three seasons.

Broadbridge's first and last AFL games were both against Essendon – he made his debut in Round 8, 2001, in the teams' first meeting since the 2000 Grand Final, while his last league game was also against Essendon, in the 2004 elimination final. On both occasions, Melbourne lost narrowly. His final game of football at any level was in the 2004 premiership team of Melbourne's VFL-affiliate, Sandringham.

Broadbridge married Trisha Silvers on 18 December 2004. On 26 December, while spending their honeymoon in the Phi Phi Islands, Thailand, he drowned after being swept out to sea by the tsunami that followed the Indian Ocean earthquake, but Silvers survived. His father located his body in a Thai morgue on 3 January 2005.

Trisha wrote a book about the events, Beyond The Wave, and was named as the 2006 Young Australian of the Year for her volunteer work for various charities, including building a school on Phi Phi named in Troy Broadbridge's honor.