Simon's story

Simon grew up loving cricket, falling in love with the game the first time he ever played, aged eight. By his early twenties he was playing as a professional, living out his childhood dream. But then during one training session he felt a stabbing pain in his back. Initially it didn’t seem too bad and he was told to rest. But the next time he tried to bowl, he ended up in agony. Simon was diagnosed with a serious stress fracture in his back.

“I started drinking way too much, going out five or six nights a week. I reached a place where I genuinely felt that everyone I loved and cared about would be better off without me.”

Simon went on for years feeling like his life had no meaning. “I thought about suicide many times. I was lucky enough to meet my wife and marrying her was the greatest day of my life. But then I ended up doing a job that meant spending a lot of time away from home. As I sat alone in hotel rooms, all the old, painful memories came flooding back. I was under that dark cloud again, thoughts of suicide filling my mind.”

It was then that Simon’s wife convinced him to get help. Simon will never forget the conversation he had with the Samaritans volunteer – the kind of conversation that is only possible because of the generosity of people like you.

"To tell someone my story who was a stranger was so much easier than telling family or friends. I felt I couldn’t tell the people close to me everything in case it hurt them to hear the truth. With Samaritans, I could finally open up.”