'My mum saved me from taking my own life'

A man whose mother saved him from taking his own life will be running 10 marathons in 10 days for a mental health charity.

Leigh Edwards, from Wolverhampton, suffered from auditory psychosis in 2019 and would often hear a voice in his head, which would try to persuade him to kill himself.

At one point, he had planned to leave his house and take his own life, but his mother, Tracey, stopped him at the door after she saw the "signs of pain" in him.

Mr Edwards has since recovered after receiving treatment, as well as learning various coping mechanisms, and is now focused on raising money for charity.

He told BBC Radio WM that he wanted to "spread the message" that there was help for people in similar situations as he was.

"As men, I feel we do a lot of outward expression - exercising in the gym, football, hiking – we can do that; that makes us feel good," he said.

"But I think the magic is doing the inward work as well; that's just as important."

Mr Edwards, quality assurance analyst, said he suffered with auditory psychosis - hearing noises, voices, or sounds that are not present - for eight months and struggled to speak to people about it.

"The ego in me as a man could not express what was going on," he added. "I was almost ashamed of it."

After he told his family, he was taken to hospital for treatment and also started practising meditation and breathing exercises.

He said he was "thankful" to his mother for saving his life and that it meant he was still around to tell his story.

Mr Edwards said he aimed to raise about £15,000 for men's mental health charity Mandem Meetup.

His marathon challenge, which will involve running 262 miles spread over 10 marathons, will begin on Sunday at the Molineux Stadium, home to Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

From there, his journey will take him to Tamworth, Derby, the Peak District, Manchester, Liverpool, Northwich in Cheshire, Stoke-on-Trent and the Wrekin in Telford before finishing at Bilbrook Junior Football Club in Wolverhampton.

"Hopefully by doing this challenge, we can all pull together and help one another," he said.

If you've been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

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