Michael Ballack’s ex-wife has claimed that she has been grieving daily for their son, who died in a horrible accident, and that she refuses to change anything about his room.
Emilio’s death is never far from Simone Mecky-mind, Ballack’s she told German television RTL.
‘Of course, there are days when I let myself grieve, cry snot and water — that’s healing,’ she said.
In August 2021, the 18-year-old was killed in a quad bike accident in Portugal.
Michael Ballack, her husband, is rumored to be dating a 21-year-old friend of his late son.
Ballack, 45, was photographed with his model girlfriend Sophia Schneiderhan, 21, at Art Basel, a fair for modern and contemporary art.
The couple, who became close after Ballack’s son died in a car accident, appeared to be in love and were spotted kissing in public, according to German news site Bild.
It’s not the first time the couple has been spotted together, as they were recently spotted in a trendy Berlin neighborhood.
Ms Mecky Ballack, in an emotional interview said: ‘But you don’t think specifically of that day, you already remember the shock.’
She admitted she is constantly asking ‘why did this happen to him?’
She was told over the phone that her son had died and said she was like a machine. ‘Well, you know, you have to function now. You fly over there and look at it, go and look at it again.’
She said: ‘Of course there are days when I don’t want to get up, I want to lie in bed and cry, but I don’t allow it.
‘My thoughts are constantly circling. I cook dinner and then I know that he would have liked to eat that. But that’s the nice thing, you want to think about it.’
She admitted she has not changed a thing in his room at the family home, despite the passing of almost a year since the tragedy.
Ms Mecky Ballack said some people are afraid to mention his name when in her presence and she admits she has been luckier than some parents.
‘Actually you have to be thankful that you had these 18 years, other people lose their children very early. I also like to say “Emilio” consciously, because people no longer dare to say their name and then try to sneak around. There are people who change them side of the street when they see me because they don’t know how to deal with me.’
She added: ‘I’m often at Emilio’s grave. But even more often I sit in his room. I just look at his photos all day. Lay down on his bed and feel him very close. The room will remain exactly as it was as long as I live in this house.’
She lives in Bavaria with her sons Louis and Jordi.
It comes less than a year after Ballack’s son Emilio was killed when his quad bike tipped backwards and crushed him as he reversed and lost control following a family BBQ at Ballack’s Portuguese holiday home.
Emilio was the middle of Ballack’s three sons – born in 2002 to then-girlfriend Simone Lambe, who Ballack would marry in 2008 but divorce in 2012.
Friends of the duo told Bild they believed the relationship was good for Ballack and that the couple did not seem bothered by the 24-year age gap.
Neither Ballack nor Schneiderhan immediately responded to MailOnline’s request for comment.
Police at the time said Ballack had been riding on an uneven piece of land when the bike rolled backwards and fell on top of him around 2am on August 5 at the family’s Villas do Mar estate, near the town of Troia which is just south of the capital, Lisbon.
Firefighters had to pull him free of the wreck before medics tried to revive him, but their efforts proved in vain and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘The accident happened at the family home. The quad rider wasn’t on a public road and his was the only vehicle involved,’ an officer told Portuguese media.
Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias reported that Emilio was reversing out of the property on his quad when he had his fatal accident.
He is believed to have lost control of the vehicle during the manoeuvre out of the family villa and ended up on a public road with the quad on top of him after falling, the paper reported. His grandmother is said to have raised the alarm.
Sources said Emilio had enjoyed a family barbecue at the villa earlier in the evening. He was holidaying there with his father, two brothers and Michael’s own parents.
The teenager’s body has been taken to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in the city of Santiago de Cacem for a post-mortem. Ballack has yet to make any official comment.
