Heather Anderson

Heather Anderson (29 July 1994 – 13 November 2022) was an Australian Army soldier and Australian rules footballer who played for the Adelaide Football Club in the AFL Women's competition in 2017. She served as a medic in the 1st Close Health Battalion. She made her debut in the thirty-six point win against at Thebarton Oval in the opening round of the 2017 season. She was a part of Adelaide's premiership side after the club defeated by six points at Metricon Stadium in the AFL Women's Grand Final. During the grand final, she dislocated her right shoulder which resulted in her second surgery on her right shoulder within a year. She played every match in her debut season to finish with eight matches.

Due to her shoulder injury, the club announced in May that she was delisted for the 2018 season. Anderson underwent surgery in April 2017 and completed rehabilitation ahead of the draft. She was not drafted and announced her retirement from AFL.

Death and aftermath On 13 November 2022, Anderson died by suicide at an army barracks in Perth, Western Australia. She was 28.

Her brain was donated to the Australian Sports Brain Bank after her death by her family. Researchers from the Australian Sports Brain Bank posthumously diagnosed her with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). She is the first female athlete diagnosed with this disease.