On the 28th October 2021 my life changed and I began my journey through mental health. 

I was on holiday in Cyprus with my family when I was getting random attacks and ended up spending a week in hospital. On returning to the UK i was bed bound and in constant pain. Being off work, staying at home and not being active I began to spiral and went into depression. Speaking to my GP, they decided to put me on anti-depressants to help. My mood was very low and spent most days crying and feeling sorry for my self. Not seeing many people, I began to suffer from social anxiety and had constant panic attacks when I went to places I wasn’t comfortable in and seeing people.

I decided that I was going to make a change and try to get back to my normal self. I read Books on mental health, took on meditation and began to find different techniques that work for me and set my self daily routines and found that I was making improvements. I battled against the mental health that was affecting my life and I was winning. I spent 15 weeks off work and when I returned, I set my self checklists for each day so that I had a sense of achievement. I started on shorter shifts and slowly extended my days as I become more comfortable.

I still suffer, however now I know how to deal with it.

Using my self taught knowledge and techniques, I decided to set up a mental health network within work so that others that are going through mental health have someone to talk to. I share what I have learnt with them and help them find techniques and routines that work for them.

The next thing on my list to do was some kind of fundraiser to raise donations for Mind UK to go towards helping those who need it. 

So……………..

On Saturday 10th September I will be taking part in a 25km trek through London, zigzagging across 16 of the historic bridges in a bid to raise awareness for mental health. I am doing this challenge for 2 reasons,

1. To show myself how far I’ve come and that I will win the battle.

2. To help others going through the same and to show them there are always options and light at the end of the tunnel.

Please help me support as many people suffering with mental health. Every person helped is a life saved.

Thank you for reading my story and hope you donate.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.