Keeley Frawley opens up about the heartbreaking moment she discovered father Danny was dead

The daughter of AFL star Danny Frawley recalls the devastating day she learned her famous father had died.

In an emotional interview with Koin.com, Keeley Frawley, who plays basketball for the University of Portland in the US, spoke in incredible detail about the moment she was in her dorm room and received a call from her mother, Anita.

WATCH VIDEO ABOVE: Gary Ablett Sr, the latest AFL star to reveal concussion battle.

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Danny Frawley was suffering from the neurological condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy at the time of his sudden death in 2019.

He was 56 when he died in a car crash near Ballarat. It was later confirmed as a suicide.

Keeley was in the US and had just started her college year in Portland.

“I’m picking up the phone right now and my mom is on the phone on the other side and she’s crying and I don’t know what’s happening,” said an emotional Keeley.

“I’m like, ‘Just tell me, are you okay? Is everything ok?’ My mother couldn’t say anything. She was just speechless. She just cried. My sister grabbed the phone and said to me, ‘Keeks, dad died. Dad died.’ I remember throwing the phone and shaking it and saying, ‘It’s not real. Where is he? What hospital is he in? It’s not real.'”

Keeley plans to honor her father this season by wearing the No. 2.

It’s the number that made Danny Frawley famous while playing for St Kilda.

Danny played 240 games for the Saints and was one of the best defensemen of all time.

Keeley said she texted her father after his 56th birthday to tell him she loved him.

A day later, Frawley was dead.

“I’m just so happy that I was able to send this message to let him know … I feel like he would be really proud of me and would just look at me with his cheeky smile and say, ‘I’m so proud of you ‘Keekers.’” she said.

The Frawley family has done an incredible job of raising awareness of mental health since Danny’s death.

The family donated Danny’s brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank and the Danny Frawley Center for Health and Wellbeing opened in St Kilda’s home base at RSEA Park.

But concussions have become a growing concern for the AFL in recent years.

Just last Tuesday, Margalit Injury Lawyers filed a class action lawsuit in Victoria’s Supreme Court on behalf of 60 former players seeking compensation from the AFL for their head injuries.

It was also revealed during the week that another class action lawsuit could involve more than 200 players.

AFL legend Gary Ablett Sr. has also been addressing his health struggles due to a concussion following headaches and mood swings.