Retreat over combat balm

She is being dragged through the media mill courtesy of her footballer boyfriend, Greg Bird, who is appealing his conviction for recklessly wounding her. But Katie Milligan now finds herself caught up in what appears to be a marketing stunt organised by her cousin that is being strongly condemned by a leading domestic violence campaigner. A Washington skin-care specialist, Sara Damelio, has launched a "combat-ready" healing balm for abused women to coincide with this week's court case. Damelio said she created the balm Milligan used to help treat scarring following the attack by Bird last year. In a press release dated yesterday, Damelio offered people the chance to buy reduced-price jars of the organic balm to send to domestic violence crisis shelters in Australia. "The shelters [abused women] flee to are desperate for the most basic of items, including underwear and kitchen utensils. Providing them with Combat-Ready Balm is a practical way to help," she says in the release. Damelio conceded to The Diary the name was "strong" but said the balm had also been sent to US troops in Iraq, hence the name. "It also can be used in your beauty arsenal - it's a very healing balm," she said. Speaking outside Bird's court case yesterday, Milligan confirmed Damelio as her cousin but said she had nothing to do with the campaign. "I am unhappy with it to say the least," she said. "It's being taken care of [legally]." A NSW Domestic Violence Coalition convenor, Betty Green, said the idea was completely inappropriate. "Where do you start? If it's a joke it's a very sick joke," she said. Damelio later said references to Milligan in press material would be removed.