A man who suffered mental heath and survived several suicide attempts has shared how running helped to save his life.
Thomas Dunning said he had always been a victim of cyber-bullying at school where he got 'beaten up on a daily basis'.
He told Lincolnshire Live : "I went to sixth form and later applied to do an apprenticeship. In that same year my brother died. I think because I had a reason, an excuse to distract myself, I did and sunk into my studies.
"Over the next five years, I finished my apprenticeship and got my degree in mechanical engineering.
"I hadn't allowed myself to deal with my brother's death and I believe that was the trigger for my psychosis."
Thomas, 28, heard voices in the head and also experienced hallucinations.
"My partner Amber, who is now my wife, at the time was basically on the verge of walking out and she told me that if she was going to stay then I would need to change my life."
Thomas started to reach out and seek help, even confiding in several of his close friends about the difficulty he was facing.
"I explained to them why I had scars on my hands and why they couldn't come over because the house was always trashed," said Thomas.
"Several of my friends set up fake social media accounts and sent abusive messages to people I knew, pretending to be me. I had become a victim of cyber abuse at the hands of people I thought were my close friends.
"One evening I received a message from people I worked with at the time telling me to not bother coming into work because they know what I'm like."
Feeling depressed, Thomas decided to give up on his life and kissed Amber before going into the garage to hang himslef.
He continued: "By some fluke, the joint on the pipe I had used gave way, I think there had been a leak there and it had rusted.
"Amber came in as I had been in the garage for a long time. I couldn't see properly, but I just remember seeing this bright light as the garage door opened. It was as though I could see my heart beating in my eyes."
Thomas was taken to hospital where mental health doctors diagnosed him with PTSD, social anxiety and borderline personality disorder.
Amber took on the role as his carer and attended group sessions.
He said: "Amber convinced me one day to go along to one of the sessions. At this point with my diagnosis, I couldn't understand how I was going to get any better.
"But I went along. It was a group session and in that group was another man, who ran his own business, who had also been diagnosed with PTSD. He was very open and spoke about his experience.
"This was a turning point for me, because before this I had never thought that anybody who suffered with similar issues could move on and achieve what he had. It changed my outlook completely, meeting people like me and being able to open up conversation."
Thomas set up a podcast with a friend where they discussed mental health, sport, culture and Ru Paul's Drag Race.
"I started to do things that I enjoyed and that made me feel good. I enjoyed running the podcast with my friend and started looking around for more I could do," said Thomas.
"I remembered when my partner and I first got together, we took part in a running event together and I loved it.
"At the time I was 22 stone, so the sight of me running wasn't pretty. But gradually I got more and more into it and loved it and the impact it made on my mental health. That's how the mental health runner came about."
Thomas, alongside Pure Gym personal trainer Mark Watson, is now the Lincoln community champion for the Run Talk Run initiative .
The Run Talk Run initiative offers people of all abilities the chance to take up running and discover mental health support in a safe, less intimidated and more accessible environment.
"Running has become such an incredible tool for me and my recovery. Myself and Mark made contact with Jess, the founder of Run Talk Run in London, and asked if we could introduce it to Lincoln. We're now part of the nationwide intitiative.
"We meet every Tuesday and it's a nice safe environment. We always run as the slowest person in the group, so whether it takes us an hour to run 5k or half an hour, it doesn't matter.
"The event is a safe space where we can feel open to talk about anything which may be troubling us while incorporating physical exercise in a run around central Lincoln.
"I want to more people who there to know they aren't on their own."#
If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free phoneline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit the website to find your local branch
