Jessica Bang, 18, Australian Golfer, Dies in Thailand After Brain Hemorrhage
Jessica Bang, an 18-year-old Australian golfer who had only just begun her professional career, has died in Thailand after suffering a brain hemorrhage, according to statements from her family and the WPGA Tour of Australasia.
Bang collapsed on August 1 in Bangkok while preparing to take part in the KLPGA Tour’s International Qualifying Tournament, a competition that offered a pathway onto South Korea’s top women’s golf circuit.
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She was rushed into emergency brain surgery and subsequently placed on life support in an intensive care unit, according to reports from News.com.au and The Daily Telegraph. Her family confirmed on Thursday that she died at 7:20 a.m. local time, nearly two weeks after she first fell ill.
The precise cause of the hemorrhage has not been disclosed. Her family has not identified what led to the bleeding, and no pre-existing medical condition has been made public.
Bang had turned professional only last year and had recently qualified to begin her rookie season with the WPGA and KLPGA tours, a milestone that placed her among a new generation of Australian golfers with international ambitions. Her trip to Bangkok was intended as a step toward earning full status on the Korean tour.
The WPGA Tour of Australasia said in a statement that the thoughts and prayers of everyone at the tour, and of the wider Australian golf community, were with Jessica’s family and friends and with all those who knew and loved her.
After her collapse, members of Bang’s family started an online fundraiser to help meet the cost of her medical treatment in Thailand, with the initial hope of eventually bringing her back to Australia to continue her care closer to home. That plan did not come to pass before she died.
In an update to the fundraiser, organizer Janette Yoon wrote that the family was heartbroken by the news and expressed a wish to keep celebrating “Jessica’s achievements, passion and dedication” to the sport. The campaign has raised close to 36,000 Australian dollars (roughly 24,000 US dollars), which her family said would go toward covering medical expenses.
Relatives described Bang’s sense of humor and her cheerful, vibrant personality as qualities they would always remember.
Her death has drawn an outpouring of grief across Australia’s golfing community, where she had been viewed as one of the sport’s brightest emerging talents. Details of the funeral arrangements have not yet been announced, and her family has not issued any further comment beyond the fundraiser update.
