In August 2021, the world changed forever for Simone Ballack (50) and Michael Ballack (49). Their son Emilio died in Portugal at the age of just 18 in a quad bike accident. The ex-wife of the former professional soccer player has now traveled to the country to make peace with it.
Ballack published a video in an Instagram story on June 11, in which she is sitting on a beach. She shows the surroundings in the short clip, but more important are the words she writes with it. "Trying to make my peace with this beautiful but for me so fateful country...", the 50-year-old shares not quite five years after her son's tragic accident. "Just three days, Portugal and I...", Ballack explains further in the clip. "We need to talk things out after five years." She adds the hashtag #healing, so she is seeking healing.
"I try every day to get as much positive as possible for myself and my family, to keep trying new things", Simone Ballack explained to "Gala" magazine in April 2024. "Definitely no standstill. Things must always keep moving forward." Setting herself new tasks is in her view "the best medicine against grief", she said at the time.
On Instagram, Simone Ballack, who has two other sons with her ex-husband, repeatedly remembers Emilio. Last September, she shared a video with old pictures of her deceased son and wrote in English: "Happy 23rd birthday in heaven, Emilio. Miss you so much."
"You can't describe that in words either"
Michael Ballack also spoke openly about the loss a few months ago. In the Sky format "Meine Geschichte - Das Leben von Michael Ballack", he explained in response to moderator Riccardo Basile's (34) question about how one can learn to live with such a loss: "Difficult. Difficult. It's difficult, because whoever goes through something like that, you can't imagine it, you can't describe that in words either. It's a process of repression."
He can speak little to not at all about his son, but would like to much more, said the former soccer player, visibly moved. In this process of repression, one tries to get through everyday life, "through things that motivate you, work, the family, the other sons, to cope with it".
