Melbourne boxer Chloe Chaos has revealed how fighting has helped her recover from the childhood trauma of learning her father had shot dead her best friend in a murder-suicide.
The world of Chaos was turned upside down in 2010 when, at just 12 years old, she learned that her friend Asia Osborne and her siblings were murdered by their father in Roxburgh Park, Melbourne.
“I remember thinking, if someone so close to you and who loves you can do something like that, what can other people do?” Chaos told the Herald of the sun.
‘He was shot by his father, who I thought was very kind, and also killed his brother and sister.
‘I remember everything. It was the day before returning to school for seventh grade and we got a phone call at home.
Australian boxer Chloe Chaos has spoken about her childhood trauma and how finding boxing has given her direction and structure.
Chaos, 26, has claimed a string of victories as a professional, including a Victorian title.
My friends and I went straight down the street, there were news cameras and police everywhere. It looked like a movie scene. We sat across the street watching, and the news was just telling the country this story about my friend.
‘She came from New Zealand when she was in second grade and from then on we were inseparable. And then she disappeared.
Chaos struggled after her friend’s death and says teachers at her school shut her down when she tried to talk about the incident.
He left school in Year 9 and soon found himself falling into the lifestyle of partying and taking drugs.
Soon Chaos also took care of his father, who had suffered a work accident.
“I started smoking marijuana,” he said.
‘I did ice, but then I would go home and study, and I would see my friends the next weekend and they would do the same thing, they would do it again. And I knew that you can get too into something and then quickly lose control, so I stopped.
‘Marijuana was really my big addiction.
The Victorian fighter had a marijuana addiction growing up that was impacting her mental health.
At the age of 17 he discovered boxing and after deciding to take the sport seriously he also made the decision to change his name.
‘But I was functional, so I didn’t see it as a problem. I could smoke, go to work, hide it. But deep down it was a disaster.
“As I watched my dad deteriorate, that’s when my mental health really came into play.”
At 17, Chaos entered a boxing gym in Melbourne and soon found the structure and purpose he needed.
In 2022, he turned professional and has achieved a series of victories en route to claiming the Victorian middleweight belt.
Chaos’ decision to take boxing seriously also coincided with his decision to change his name and move house.
“I haven’t spoken to my father in years, I didn’t want to live under my last name, I didn’t want any connection with my father anymore,” he said.
‘For me it was part of the rehabilitation.
‘When I was a Tarzcón, I was a lost person.
‘I am Chaos. I have tattoos on my face. It’s not that I’m crazy, everything is chaotic and I have a lot of energy, so I chose Chaos as my last name and now everyone in boxing knows me as Chloe Caos.