Andy Murray opens up about UK mass shooting
Tennis legend Andy Murray has opened up about his traumatic past in a new Amazon documentary called Andy Murray: Resurfacing.
The film documents his long journey back from injury, but also touches on a certain incident in his childhood that has impacted his life.
Murray revealed in the documentary that he knew the man who shot 16 children and their teacher dead at his primary school in 1996.
The 32-year-old said that the shooting had been “difficult” for him and that tennis was a way he could “escape”.
Excited and proud to announce that for last two years I've been filming my (long) journey back from injury. Andy Murray: Resurfacing hits @primevideouk on Friday the 29th of November and I look forward to hearing what you all think about the film.
😄🎾🎥@primevideosport pic.twitter.com/IJe8QZ9YAy— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) 7 November 2019
Murray was a student at Dunblane Primary School in Scotland when gunman Thomas Hamilton stormed into the gym, carrying four handguns and 743 rounds of ammunition.
Hamilton opened fire and teacher Gwen Mayor and 15 of her kindergarten students were killed instantly. Another child passed away later in hospital.
Another 15 were wounded in the massacre, which took just five minutes, before Hamilton turned the gun on himself.
Hamilton had been an assistant Boy Scouts leader but asked to leave due to complaints about his behaviour towards some of the boys. He then organised several boys’ clubs, which Murray attended as a child.
“You asked me a while ago why tennis was important to me. Obviously, I had the thing that happened at Dunblane when I was around nine,” Murray says in the documentary.
“I am sure for all the kids there it would be difficult for different reasons. The fact we knew the guy, we went to his kids club, he had been in our car, we had driven and dropped him off at train stations and things,” he said.
“My feeling towards tennis is that it’s an escape for me in some ways. Because all of these things are stuff that I have bottled up,” he revealed.
The conversation was much too painful for Murray to have in person, as he left his thoughts in a voicemail for director Olivia Cappuccini instead of a face-to-face interview.
Murray is hoping to make a full comeback at the Australian Open next year after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in January.
The injury had threatened to end his career, and Murray was planning to retire after Wimbledon.
He told reporters before the release of the documentary that he was working on building up his fitness and hoped soon to be able to endure five-set matches.
“I know I’ll be able to compete in major tournaments without having to worry about it,” he said, according to news.com.au
“I’ve played three-set matches and some long ones recently, but the best of five is an extra hour, hour-and-a-half on top of that so I’ll find out in Australia.”