Former England cricketer Graham Thorpe tragically passed away last week. However, the cause of his death was not disclosed then. His family has now revealed the cause of his death on Monday.
During an interview with The Times, Thorpe’s wife Amanda and daughters, Kitty and Emma revealed that the former batter killed himself after a longstanding battle with depression.
His wife revealed that in May 2022, Thorpe attempted suicide as a result of his ongoing mental health challenges. While he initially responded well to treatment, his condition continued to deteriorate over time.
“For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety. This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit,” Amanda shared.
“Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe.
“We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately, none of them really seemed to work.”
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Amanda stressed the importance of acknowledging the severity of mental illness. She pointed out that despite being strong and healthy physically, the former batter was unable to conquer his mental health challenges.
“Graham was renowned as someone who was very mentally strong on the field and he was in good physical health,” Amanda said.
“But mental illness is a real disease and can affect anyone. Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better.
“He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life.”
The left-handed batter represented England in 100 Test matches and 82 ODIs from 1993 to 2002.
During his 11-year-long career, he scored 6744 Test runs at an average of 44.66 with 16 centuries. Meanwhile, in ODI cricket, he scored 2380 runs at 37.18 with 21 half-centuries.
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