Former Eagles star Ashley Sampi has beaten the temptation to hit the grog again after MS diagnosis

AFL star Ashley Sampi has seen the giddy heights and lowest of lows that life can throw his way, but he is refusing to let his latest setback awaken old demons.

The former West Coast Eagles flyer has battled depression and alcoholism in the past but is adamant that won’t happen again after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Sampi spiralled into depression in 2007 after a series of incidents. That included a public paternal test and ensuing break-up with his partner, the death of his cousin, a series of injuries and the pain of missing the Eagles premiership in 2006.

Sampi had a difficult 2007 with a raft of problems on and off the field that ultimately led to depression and alcohol dependency

Pundits were lining up to criticism him over everything from his form to his weight and it became too much.

He found his solace at the bottom of a bottle and admitted that he suffered from suicidal thoughts. He managed to get himself clean and recover by 2013, but spoke about those dark days with The West.

‘I thought about suicide a lot,’ he said at time.

‘Times were tough with the scrutiny I was getting in the paper and from over the fence and it took its toll. I didn’t want to talk about it and tried to deal with it myself.

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‘But now when I look back I know it would have been the easy way out and it would have devastated my family. In the end, I didn’t want to put them through it and thankfully I realised life was worth living.’

Now that his world has been rocked once again, it could be easy to slide back into bad old habits. But Sampi is stoically refusing to let his current diagnosis spark a return to the drink. 

‘I’ve been in some dark places with mental illness and all that more than once,’ the father-of-six told The West.

‘But this time around, I’m beating my depression and I don’t plan on going back.

‘I’ve seen the worst of alcohol and been part of that, but now I hate the sight of it, the smell of it and even when some people might want to hit the bottle after a diagnosis like this, I don’t want to have a bar of it.’

Sampi, pictured with relative Christelle Sampi, doesn’t want to hurt his family by returning to drinking after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 

Sampi is best known for his leap on the shoulders of teammate Andrew Embley against Melbourne at the MCG in 2004 which won him the AFL’s mark of the year award.

His announcement about his health appeared on the Facebook page of his uncle, the actor and entertainer Ernie Dingo earlier this week.

He apologised to family and friends for not telling people individually, saying that it would ‘be too hard to tell you all what I am going through and what my path for the future holds’ for him, his wife, and their children.