Tazmin Brits battles suicide, car crash, and mental struggles before smashing century against New Zealand

Tazmin Brits, the South African cricket opener, has shared her inspiring story of overcoming a major car accident, facing mental health struggles, and dealing with suicidal thoughts to become an essential player in international cricket. Her journey includes a shift from javelin throwing to cricket, marked by personal losses and successes, showing standout performances at the 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup in India.

Tazmin Brits suffers life-threatening injuries in devastating car accident

Just eight months before the 2012 London Olympics, Brits was in a life-threatening car crash in November, 2011. After a night out with friends, she glanced at her phone while driving home, lost control, and the car rolled over. Since she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, she was thrown out through the window, and the car landed on her, leading to a broken pelvis, dislocated hip, and burst bladder.

She spent three months in the hospital and left in a wheelchair. Brits vividly recalls the song on the radio, the smell of dirt, and her javelin spikes flying through the air. She thought she might be paralyzed and tried to move her legs in the hospital while hearing her mother cry. Recovery required intensive physiotherapy; doctors predicted it would take a year for her to run again, but she accomplished it in just seven months.

 

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Unfortunately, complications necessitated further surgery due to bone growing over a screw in her pelvis. Reflecting on the incident in 2025, Brits stated, “I was in ICU for two weeks, hospitalised for two months, and it took me almost a year to start walking properly and stop being on a wheelchair. Honestly speaking, I shouldn’t have been alive,”. The accident ended her Olympic javelin aspirations, as London 2012 passed without her participation.

Tazmin Brits battled seven years of mental health struggles and suicidal

Brits faced severe mental health challenges, spending seven years “in a hole” with suicidal thoughts after the life threatning accident. She even thought about ways to end her life but noted, “Luckily, nothing planned out.”

The trauma was hard for her to explain, as friends and family moved on while she battled internally, holding onto her lost javelin identity. Reminders like people asking if she was “that girl who throws the javelin” worsened her struggles.

She sought help from psychiatrists but continued to fall. In a 2024 interview with former Indian cricketer Anjum Chopra, Brits opened up, “It wasn’t easy. I actually wanted to commit suicide a few times; those thoughts did cross my mind, and I even tried.”.

She credited her supportive parents, especially her mother, for helping her seek mental health support, adding, “But I had very supportive parents, especially my mother. I had to seek help to get my mind right, but it wasn’t easy. I had a lot of dips, still do sometimes, but that’s part of sport.”

This interview was a part of Anjum Chopra’s series, where Brits shared their thoughts on her emotional journey from the crash to some dark days. Later on, in 2022, after a rough ODI World Cup (52 runs in five games at an average of 10.4), self-doubt came back, making her consider retirement.

Brits told The New Indian Express in 2025, “There was a time when I actually wanted to retire,” recalling limited game time behind players like Dane van Niekerk and Lizelle Lee. She added, “It (the dark voices within) actually almost got the best of me because that’s when I also decided maybe I should retire because I put so much pressure on myself.”

Tazmin Brits chooses cricket over individual sports after accident

After the accident, Brits realized that a team setting would be more suitable for her than individual sports, which led her to cricket. While she was working as a waitress and at a grocery store, she made great strides at the provincial level, becoming one of the best domestic batters around.

An unexpected meeting altered her course, at a bar, a coach from North West approached her, seeking women cricketers, and her friends highlighted her past playing experience. Brits chatted with Anjum Chopra in 2024, “A guy walked in looking for women cricketers—he was the coach of North West. My friends told him I used to play cricket, and one thing led to another.”

In January 2018, she tried to make a javelin comeback, tossing 40m on her first attempt at her former high school, but then switched to cricket. People in Britain saw this as fate, telling Anjum Chopra, “Maybe it was God’s way of redirecting me.”

She kicked off her international career with a T20I match against Bangladesh in May 2018. The 2023 T20 World Cup was a game changer; she shone in the semifinal against England, scoring a fifty and taking four catches, which earned her Player of the Match and helped the team make it to the final.

Brits told The New Indian Express in 2025, “That’s where I actually realised that I’m capable of a lot more. Maybe the doubts or the voices in my head weren’t correct.” In December 2023, she achieved her first ODI fifty and her maiden century versus Bangladesh.

Tazmin Brits credits her mother Zeldine for emotional support

Brits’ family was super important in her recovery. Her mom, Zeldine, assisted with everyday chores after the accident and offered emotional support. In a 2024 chat with Anjum Chopra, Brits highlighted how vital her mom was during the hard times.

In March 2021, her father, Andre Brits, sadly passed away due to COVID-19; she celebrated her first fifty and century in his memory with some special events.

Fast forward to mid-2024, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, prompting Brits to contemplate missing the T20 World Cup in Dubai.

She told her mother, “Cricket can always come and go. But you’re my mom, I only have one of you,” as recounted to The New Indian Express in 2025. Zeldine encouraged her to play and attended the final despite chemotherapy, flying for two days amid weakness, hair loss, and rashes.

Brits said, “My mom is very, very strong. A lot of my strength actually comes from her… For her to come to that final, that meant a lot.” A knee injury in mid-2024 added to her challenges, but she persisted.

Tazmin Brits’ century against New Zealand earns her Player of the Match

On October 6, 2025, during South Africa’s second game against New Zealand at Holkar Stadium in Indore, India, Brits hit an impressive unbeaten 101 off 89 balls, including 15 fours and a six, which helped secure a six-wicket win.

New Zealand put up 232 runs, which Brits considered below par, suggesting that a score of 280 would have been more competitive on that batting pitch. Her innings was key to the chase, earning her the Player of the Match title. In the post-match press conference, Brits called this century “a bit fun” as the ball was coming off the bat well, but she preferred her earlier 101* off 121 in Lahore as her best performance due to the tougher conditions.

She credited her success to a broader range of shots and her dedication, humorously referring to “cook sisters, the South African dessert.” Her stats show an impressive 749 runs in 11 innings in 2025, with an average of 83.22 and a strike rate of 96.14, showing her will. Brits views her cricket journey as a “second chance” to represent South Africa.