Gia Allemand rose to fame several years ago as a contestant on The Bachelor and while she may not have gotten Jake Pavelka's final rose, she did endear herself to many fans. After popping up on two installments of Bachelor Pad Allemand finally found love with NBA star, Ryan Anderson. He was the one who discovered Allemand in August 2013 after she hung herself and in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Alexander revealed that he is still grieving.
At the time of Allemand's suicide there were rumors that she was depressed because he had refused to marry her and while Anderson admits that a huge, crushing fight seemed to have triggered Allemand's desperate action, he now understands that a lot more was bubbling beneath the surface than even he understood. Donna Micheletti, Allemand's mother, has said that a troubled childhood as well as a diagnosis of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) likely contributed greatly to her daughters' severe mood swings and never feeling good enough.
Anderson has conceded that while Allemand had a tough exterior, things hurt her deeply. Over the course of 8 hours, the NBA forward spoke, for the first time about finding Allemand and how it was a horrific day that permanently changed his life.
"The first thing Ryan saw upon entering Gia's fourth-floor apartment were her knees. His recollections of what followed are fragmentary. His screaming and running to her. The vacuum-cleaner cord hanging from the second-floor handrail of the spiral staircase, so tight around her neck that at first he couldn't loosen it. Gia's dog, Bentley, running to him. A neighbor arriving and dialing 911 as Ryan tried to revive Gia. Seeing the three-word note in her handwriting on the dining room table: Mom gets everything. Paramedics rushing in. Ryan calling Donna. Donna cursing at him, screaming that he knew Gia was sensitive, that he was supposed to protect her. The police pushing through the door. Ryan answering questions, sobbing, blaming himself. Pelicans coach Monty Williams hurrying in with a team security guard and finding Ryan slumped on the carpet, his back to the door, unable to rise. Williams dropping to his knees and hugging his player, the two men rocking back and forth," explains Sports Illustrated.
While Allemand's suffering ended that day, Anderson's has continued on for the last 14 months and how harrowing those first weeks without her actually were. According to the interview, "Ryan's first response was to shut down. He moved back in with his parents and ate only when his mother forced him to, and even then just applesauce and yogurt. His sister, Rachel, and her husband, Mark Groves, took turns sleeping next to him in his queen bed. Ryan spent his days on the patio, in the baking heat, reading his Bible in silence. He couldn't bring himself to talk to his best friends, terrified of someone saying, 'I'm sorry.' Of someone wanting him to talk about what happened."
Anderson eventually managed to take baby steps back towards real life. He remains incredibly close to Micheletti and the two are in the process of launching The Gia Allemand Foundation, to help educate about suicide awareness and prevention. Anderson feels that speaking out is one thing that he can now do that will help others. Moving on hasn't been easy and Anderson admits that he still finds himself talking to Allemand while driving and he also has continued some of the little things that they did together because they bring comfort to a situation that will never fully make sense.
