'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."

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."

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