Thomas Minns

Copy and pasted from LinkedIn -

I want to share a little bit about my journey. I am a professional Rugby Player.

2017 age 22 I lost my Mother through addiction. I battled with manic depression.

2018 I lost my Professional and promising Rugby career through addiction. I got diagnosed with Childhood PTSD, Depression and Anxiety.

2019 I lost my Grandfather who raised me from 6 years old with my Grandmother.

2020 I lost my Grandmother who was the closest thing I had to a mother.

2021 I played Rugby in the 2nd Division for the first time in 1065 days.

Now age 27 in 2022 I have recently signed a Professional contract with Wakefield Trinity! Back at the top level of the Sport I play.

Don't ever give up. No matter how tough life is there is always hope to get better. Mental Health is no joke! The best thing I ever did was go and seek help.

To anyone out there who is thinking of giving up please, please go and seek help. I look back now and I'm so grateful for the lessons life has taught me.

The most important thing for me on this is I stopped the Cycle and hopefully my children will grow up and have the best possible chance at life. Unfortunately my Mum never got the chance to do that and her pain just got passed on to her Children. In 2017 I couldn't see the next day never mind where I am now.

Everyday I wake up and count my blessings. I have a lovely Fiancée who stood by me through thick and thin and 3 beautiful children who I love dearly.

We are all human and we handle things differently, some better than others.....just remember asking for help isn't a sign of weakness it's a sign of strength.

I now have a business called MinnsMind where I go into Schools/Workplaces etc and raise awareness on Mental Health. I have done around 25 talks mainly in highschools to try and break the stigma around Mental health. The feedback from the students and staff is unbelievable. My aim is to get this story out there and help as many people as I can!