When Beaconsfield mine disaster victim Brant Webb revealed that he 'didn't like' his fellow survivor Todd Russell - dropping the bombshell on a podcast just days after his death - it left Australians reeling.
asserted
it → reveal → Australians
But to those in the close-knit Tasmanian town of just 1200 people, their feud has been common knowledge for years.
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feud → knit → years
Mr Russell died aged just 54 at his home on Monday night after fighting leukaemia for more than a year.
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Russell → die → year
In 2006, Mr Russell and Mr Webb survived 14 days buried alive after a 2.2-magnitude earth tremor caused a rockfall inside the mine, trapping them 900m underground.
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tremor → survive → them
Now, a family friend has told the Daily Mail exclusively that the pair in actual fact had little in common - and one 'selfish' act from Mr Russell ensured they'd never be mates.
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they → tell → Russell
'Brant was extremely offended when it came out that Todd cheated on his first wife [Carolyn],' the source said.
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source → offend → ]
Indeed, Mr and the former Mrs Russell in 2017 gave a bombshell interview to A Current Affair's Tracy Grimshaw, in which they revealed they had separated due to his infidelity.
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they → give → infidelity
Beaconsfield mine disaster survivor Brant Webb made shocking revelations on a podcast
Fellow survivor Todd Russell died on Monday after a fight with leukaemia
Todd and ex-wife Carolyn revealed they'd separated during a 2017 interview
Todd emerges from the Beaconsfield mine in 2006 after a harrowing ordeal
Carolyn, who has remarried to husband Christopher and is now Mrs Rundle, said: 'There was nothing there.
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who → make → Christopher
We'd lost communication.
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We → lose → communication
'Everything just went away.
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Everything → go → ?
And I didn't feel that I had anything anymore...
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I → feel → anything
I never trusted him.'
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I → trust → him
Mr Russell, who was sitting alongside his estranged wife, said: 'I'm not going to deny it.
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I → sit → it
'We did try and put it behind us, but unfortunately Carolyn couldn't put it behind her.'
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Carolyn → try → her
He added that every time they argued, his infidelity was 'thrown back in my face'.
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infidelity → add → face
In the wake of her ex-husband's death, Mrs Rundle declined to comment.
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Rundle → decline → death
Before his passing, Mr Russell remarried, to Woolworths employee Donna Baker.
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Russell → remarry → Baker
On November 4 - six days before he died - she shared a picture of themselves cuddling with the caption, 'My love'.
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she → die → caption
Before his death, Todd got married again, to Woolworths employee Donna Baker
Todd did not deny he'd cheated on his first wife during a TV interview with Channel Nine's Tracy Grimshaw
Mr Webb revealed his long-held feelings towards his former workmate during an interview with Robert McKnight for McKnight Tonight on Wednesday.
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Webb → marry → Wednesday
McKnight asked Mr Webb, 'Did you like him?' to which the former miner replied: 'No, not really.'
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miner → ask → which
Mr Webb said the pair did not 'hate each other' but that they never saw eye-to-eye.
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they → say → eye
'We didn't have anything in common at all, really.
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We → have → anything
The only thing we had in common was we stayed in the hole for two weeks together,' he told McKnight.
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he → have → McKnight
'We didn't hate each other, we just had different views on life and what we were doing and where we were going.'
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we → hate → what
He added that they 'had a few blues [arguments].
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they → add → blues
We had blues in the cage.
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We → have → cage
We were trapped together, we couldn't get away [from] each other.
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we → trap → other
You sort of get the sh**s with each other, but that's life.'
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that → get → other
Mr Webb said he developed a better relationship with Mr Russell's family than with his former mining colleague.
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he → say → colleague
Brant revealed on Wednesday that he'd fought with Todd while underground and admitted he'd never really liked him
Following the interview, Mr Webb sent a message to the show claiming he was relieved after revealing his true feelings towards Russell.
'
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he → reveal → Russell
I feel a weight has lifted, a 20 years of keeping a secret for a bloke that didn't respect me,' he wrote.
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he → feel → me
Mr Russell's daughter Maddison politely declined to comment on Mr Webb's surprising broadside, stating 'it’s a very personal and private time.'
Ms Russell confirmed her dad's funeral has been planned for Monday, and would be live-streamed.
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funeral → decline → Monday
Despite their differences, Mr Russell and Mr Webb set up the Russell-Webb Legacy Foundation, a charity supporting young people experiencing homelessness as well as local charities in Beaconsfield and Tasmania.
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Russell → set → Beaconsfield
Mr Russell spent eight and a half months in Launceston General Hospital fighting leukaemia.
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Russell → spend → leukaemia
Todd's daughter Maddison confirmed her dad's funeral would be held on Monday
Less than a week before his death, Mr Russell wrote on social media that his doctors had no further treatment options to suggest.
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doctors → confirm → options
'After years of pain, uncertainty, appointments, treatments, setbacks and endless battles, plus the emotional exhaustion of having to pick myself up time and time again, [they] have left me with nothing left to give,' he said.
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he → have → nothing
'The time has come, medically and [physically], where there are no further options on either front for me and there is no more fight left in me.
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time → come → me
'I will leave hospital tomorrow after eight and a half months for the last time to see out my days in my own home surrounded by my wife, kids, loved ones and friends.
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I → leave → wife
Mr Russell and Mr Webb had been working in a steel cage at the end of a teleloader in the Beaconsfield mine, north-east Tasmania, on the night of April 25, 2006.
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Russell → work → April
A 2.2-magnitude tremor triggered an underground rockfall shortly before 9.30pm, trapping the pair 900m below ground.
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tremor → trigger → ground
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
