Former England cricketer Graham Thorpe passed away a week ago. The dogged batter, who’d never shy away from a battle on the field, found himself cornered off the field with nowhere left to go. Thorpe’s family has revealed that he was struggling with mental health for a few years and couldn’t continue to fight any longer.
Graham Thorpe’s struggles with mental health
To raise awareness about mental health, his family has decided to come out and reveal that Thorpe attempted to take his life two years ago but, by God’s grace, recovered. He and his family tried everything, but the cricketer never seemed to be back as before. Thorpe’s mental health got worse recently, and he felt that his family was suffering because of him, so he decided to end their struggles.
In an interview with The Times, Thorpe’s wife Amanda said, “for the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety. This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit.”
“Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work. Graham was renowned as someone who was very mentally strong on the field and he was in good physical health. But mental illness is a real disease and can affect anyone. Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better. He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life “ Graham Thorpe’s wife said.
Raising awareness about mental health
Thorpe’s daughter, Kitty, said that he’d decided to reveal her dad’s struggles so that they’d be able to raise awareness about the sensitive topic and help others suffering from mental health issues. She said. “we are not ashamed of talking about it. There is nothing to hide and it is not a stigma. We were trying to help him get better before and trying to protect him, which is why we said nothing. This is the time now to share the news, however horrible it is. We’ve wanted to be able to talk and share and we’d now like to raise awareness, too.”
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