A brave Scots dad is walking the North Coast 500 to "save lives" after the tragic loss of seven family members led to a mental breakdown, which left him suicidal and hooked on drugs and alcohol.
Andrew Feeney, 37, will take on the 516-mile scenic route around the northern coast of the country by foot, with the journey set to begin on Wednesday.
The dad-of-seven developed a passion for walking when he was growing up in the East End of Glasgow but never realised it would one day help save his life.
His mental health spiralled in 2018 after a horrific succession of seven deaths in the family, the breakdown of his relationship and being told he had lost a child.
After suffering a mental breakdown, Andrew, who had begun abusing drugs and alcohol, made several attempts to take his own life.
Left isolated after he was discharged from hospital following an overdose, Andrew says it was his loyal Staffordshire Bull Terrier Kai that made him carry on.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Andrew said: "I struggled with my mental health from a very young age and growing up on the west coast of Scotland, I thought a man or a boy shouldn't show my emotion.
"It led to bottling everything up, dismissing it and I tried to deal with it myself.
"A few years back my relationship with my kids' mum broke down and I moved out of the family home.
"I struggled, tried to bury myself in work and got into a relationship that failed. Nothing was working for me.
"I lost seven members of my family in a short space of time and I started turning to drugs and alcohol to self-medicate, but that did anything but.
"I was then told I had lost a baby and it just sent me over the edge at the time.
"I tried to take my own life and it was Kai who made me stop and think.
"What was in my mind at the time was I was a father-of-five at the time and was doing more damage than good with the life I was living.
"Since Kai stopped me, I can now see that if I had succeeded it would have only passed my problems on."
The Glasgow dad, who reveals he has suffered with mental health problems since he was a young boy, felt he was left to 'fend for himself' after 'slipping through the cracks'.
Walking Kai and being outdoors became a form of therapy Andrew says was essential on his road to recovery.
But his upcoming trip around the famous North Coast 500 - which starts and finishes at Inverness Caste - is not his first awareness adventure.
The former mechanic previously walked from Glasgow to Land's End in Cornwall with his pup to raise awareness around mental health.
He then set up his Facebook page 'Andrew's Journey' to document his movements, and quickly realised he was able to support people through social media.
Andrew added: "I came up with the random idea of taking my dog a walk from Glasgow to Land's End.
"I set up the Andrew's Journey page just to let people know where I was and what I was doing but it then became somewhere for people to ask for advice.
"At first I didn't see what advice I would have to share but we're now a couple of years on and it's reached people and saved lives.
"Those are words that I've found difficult to associate with myself and what I do but there are men here now, one of them has a baby, and they thank me for that.
"It's hard to take in that I'm still on my own mental health journey but can support people in their battles.
"I just became a dad again and never thought I'd see the day."
The busy dad, who recently became a father again to beautiful 10-week-old Connagh, now volunteers with a number of mental health charities and support groups, including Men Matter Scotland, and leads organised walks.
After witnessing the impact lockdown has had on what Andrew described as 'the silent pandemic' he is more determined than ever to share his message: "It's okay not to be okay".
Due to start his NC500 walk on Wednesday morning, Andrew encourages anyone who wishes to join him for parts of the route to come along.
Reflecting on his journey so far, he said: "I’m a big believer that everything happens for a reason.
“I got to the point where I didn’t care what people thought. I told people how I was feeling and why. I get things off my chest and then I walk."
You can follow Andrew's Journey here.
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