Former Coronation Street star Ryan Thomas is on a mission to raise awareness of men's mental health following the tragic loss of one of his friends.
The 36-year-old Manchester actor was devastated when a much-loved friend took his own life during lockdown.
Ryan says he will now do anything he can “to save even one life" following the tragedy.
In an exclusive interview with the People Ryan said: "You would never have known he was suffering.
"The night before he was on Instagram saying he was out for dinner.
“He was the same age as me. It really shook everyone. Everyone loved him.”
Ryan said: He was a good guy and he was really well-known in Manchester.”
Ryan has told how setting up a WhatsApp group with his friends has been helpful during lockdown.
“The lads and I started a WhatsApp group to get fit, spur each other on and boost morale and it was great,” he said.
“One of my most alpha mates I know opened up and said he’d been really struggling in lockdown.”
On Monday May 10, the first day of Mental Health Awareness Week, Ryan will embark on a 262-mile walk from Buckingham Palace to Manchester to raise awareness and £25,000 for CALM, The Campaign Against Living Miserably.
In 10 days Ryan, who played Jason Grimshaw in Coronation Street from 2000 to 2016, will walk the equivalent of 10 marathons.
The suicide prevention and mental health charity runs a free helpline and webchat for anyone who needs to talk about life’s problems and supports those bereaved by suicide.
Ryan, who has a one-year-old son Roman with his fiancee Lucy Mecklenburgh and a daughter Scarlett, 12, with his ex partner Tina O’Brien, has been flooded with messages of support.
The former Celebrity Big Brother winner, whose brothers Scott and Adam are also in the public eye after Adam starred in Waterloo Road and Emmerdale and Scott was a contestant on the ITV2 dating show Love Island, said: “There have been so many - some from people who have lost a dad, or a sister, to suicide. Many are really struggling themselves, saying it’s good that I’m doing this.
“I’ve been lucky that my brothers and I always wear our hearts on our sleeve and talk to each other if there’s a problem.
“Not everyone has that support. Men aren’t always that great with their emotions.
“I want people to know there’s help out there and support. If I can save even one life then I’ll have done a great job.”
Charities are calling for urgent government action to prevent an escalation of suicide rates in the wake of the Covid pandemic.
According to the Office For National Statistics in the UK the 125 people take their own life each week in the UK and of those, 75 per-cent are male. The highest risk group are men aged 45 to 49.
Latest figures show suicides among men in England and Wales in 2019 were the highest they had been since 2000, at a rate of 16.9 deaths per 100,000.
Data for last year when the pandemic hit have yet to be released.
Jacqui Morrissey, an assistant director of research for the Samaritans, said: “We are particularly concerned the pandemic is exacerbating risk factors, particularly those around unemployment and unmanageable debt. That’s why we need action now to make sure rates don’t rise.”
“We need suicide prevention to be at the heart of the government response to the pandemic.”
CALM received a call for help every 62 seconds at the height of the pandemic, an increase of 40%.
CEO Simon Gunning said: “The growing mental health crisis means we are unquestionably at this tipping point right now.
“There’s going to be psychological scar tissue left over from the pandemic. People have been left very frightened by Covid-19 – not just with the deaths but by the fear of not being able to feed their kids and the future.
“Anxiety is only going to increase. Going back into society is a hugely difficult experience for some.”
To make a donation visit justgiving.com/fundraising/ryan-thomas36.
CALM can be contacted on 0800 58 58 58 and for more information visit thecalmzone.net.
