GAA star Neill Hutchinson in action for Waterford
This week marks a yet another breakthrough for sports stars fighting depression. You're ordinary joe soap might think top sportsmen have it easy, but a young Waterford man broke his silence of battling depression with a moving blog post, sharing his experiecne of living with depression.
Wayne Hutchinson, a man who has played both senior hurling and football for his county, bravely came out publicly about his batlle with depression yesterday. A lot of people assume the life of a sports star is all glitz and glamour, but in reality a lot suffer from serious depression and hardship. This touching blog post genuinely made me shed a few tears, as he relayed the anguish he suffered for years, hiding it from all who were close to him, and blocking out those who cared.
The piece touched on his sheer passion for the GAA, and how growing up all he wanted to do was wear his county colours proudly, but on the day he made his inter-county debut against Limerick, his drive and passion had faded. He no longer dreamed of representing his county. Which is absolutely heartbreaking for a young man who had everything going for him in life, but this small part of him was eating away inside of him.
This article was worth the read in many ways, it reaches out to people struggling with life, not only sporting stars but to all the ordinary joe soaps. It pays tribute to the young Galway hurler, Niall O'Donouhge, who died tragically last year, that Wayne dedicates the post to. Niall had no choice in saving his life, which is something Wayne had the power to do, so his inspiration for overcoming his fears was power. He took control of his own life. Many people do not have this option. Suicide is not the solution to any problem.
Wayne is among a number of sporting legends who have revealed their struggles. Other sporting stars that have emerged about their battle with depression are former Celtic captain Neil Lennon, who came out about his struggles in 2009 and Cork hurler Conor Cusack who gave a fantastic interview on the Late Late show a few weeks back, very courageous and truly inspiring.
A programme was aired following the sudden death by suicide of German goalkeeper Robert Enke, that shocked the sporting world, and set the foundations for further awareness on mental health issues in sport. The sheer bravery of these sports stars is so admirable. Sport is rarely protrayed in this light in the media, so I think its important to highlight that there's a dark side to sport, the fame and fortune is picture perfect, but in reality their lives are not so much different to anyone else. Sporting heros suffer the same way ordinary people do, so I think articles like this encourage people to speak out.
Sources:
http://thescore.thejournal.ie/wayne-hutchinson-depression-1405075-Apr2014/
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/sport-stars-set-to-reveal-battle-with-depression-106314.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/8353733.stm
http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/former-cork-hurler-conor-cusack-on-his-battle-with-depression-247792.html
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