'My three-year-old son brought me back from the brink'
A father who said his three-year-old son saved him from the brink has opened up about his mental health struggles and urged others in a similar position to reach out for help.Four years ago, Simon Mayo from Barnsley said he had turned to alcohol after feeling overwhelmed by financial problems and personal struggles.The 49-year-old said he hit rock bottom when he found himself standing next to a railway line one night, feeling like there was "no way out".However, he said when he glanced back towards his car and saw the empty child seat he thought "I can't leave my son", and instead decided to seek support.
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"I sat in the back of my car and put my hand on [my son's] car seat and sat there and just absolutely cried my eyes out," he said."That following Monday, I went to Andy's Man Club straight from work."The charity, which was set up in 2016 and now has more than 270 groups around the country, was started in memory of Andy Roberts, who took his own life aged 23.The peer-to-peer support group describes itself as a safe space where men can talk about their emotions without being judged."I didn't get a 'what are you doing here?', it was 'hi mate, are you alright?'," Mr Mayo recalled.When he replied that he was not, he was invited to sit down and share his story, marking the start of his regular attendance every Monday.He said his mental health improved drastically and he eventually decided to become a lead facilitator for the charity to help others looking for support."I'm just proud of where I've come from and where I am," he said. "[My son] is amazing, I worship the ground he walks on. It gets me up every morning."
'It's OK to talk'
Mr Mayo shared his story as part of Mental Health Awareness Week and a new campaign which has been launched in collaboration with alcohol harm reduction charity Drinkaware and Andy's Man Club.Research by Drinkaware has revealed that 58% of middle-aged men report using alcohol as a coping mechanism and one in five said they struggled to open up without the help of alcohol.Karen Tyrell, Drinkaware's CEO, said: "It is OK to talk, it is OK to talk about your drinking or some other things that might be feeling quite stressful or difficult in your life."Going along and asking for some help and support like Simon did sounds really hard, but once you've made that first step you can see from his story that actually things can start to feel a lot better."Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
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EXCLUSIVE I ended up with irreversible brain damage and partial blindness after my gastric sleeve operation... but I don't regret a thing
In June 2021, Chelsea Connell forked out £9,000 for a gastric sleeve that she hoped would change her life. After the birth of her first child, the then 28-year-old from Hamilton, Glasgow, weighed 16 stone and was a size 20 but was struggling with her body. After three years of research, the mother-of-two booked herself in to Spire Hospital, a private clinic in Manchester to go under the knife on June 22, 2021. But her dream quickly turned in to a nightmare when the former beautician found herself unable to walk and struggling with blurred vision, migraines and vertigo after her seemingly successful operation. Following a series of tests, Chelsea claims doctors gave her the news she had irreversible brain damage and had developed the neurological condition Wernicke's encephalopathy. Despite the debilitating condition, the Scottish-native has said she doesn't regret her decision and said her weight loss allowed her to conceive her daughter and she would do it again in a heartbeat. 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The Scot described how after weeks of little to no food or water she couldn't stand or use the toilet independently and was receiving bed baths by nurses because she was so weak. She explained: 'My mother stormed in and said "my daughter is 28 and when she came in she was able to walk and now she can't stand". 'I just couldn't keep anything down - even a sip of water was coming back up. 'When I woke up from the anesthetic I couldn't see, I couldn't walk, the room was spinning. 'I thought the gastric band was bad but it wan't until after - that was worse, they thought it was just my body not reacting well. 'Even now I look back I don't really know how I managed - it was kind of like I was dying, I was grey and I was just sicking up bile. 'If my mum hadn't insisted on seeing a consultant I wouldn't be here today.' Chelsea added that she found it difficult to advocate for herself because she couldn't think straight she was so hungry. 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