Former Sheffield United man Lee Hendrie opens up on mental struggles after suicide bids
Lee Hendrie, the former Sheffield United midfielder, has revealed he has attempted suicide "five or six times" after detailing his mental health struggles in a revealing interview.
The former Aston Villa man, who won one cap for England in 1998, signed for the Blades in 2007 but left in 2009 after Kevin Blackwell's side lost that year's Championship play-off final to Burnley.
Hendrie was declared bankrupt after the property crash saw him lose £10m, and the coronavirus crisis has hit his second career too. He works for Sky Sports as a freelance pundit and so could not be furloughed, but is appreciative for a "kind gesture off Sky" that he describes as "magnificent".
But, in an interview with Donald McRae in The Guardian, Hendrie opened up about his attempts to take his own life.
“I could easily name five, six times where I tried to do that in the bad period," he admitted.
“The football was almost over and my head was gone. I’d been trying to sell property but the housing market crashed. I got to the stage where I just wanted to end it all. I’d hit rock bottom.
“My wife went through an awful lot. She’s seen me on life-support machines. She’s seen me in distress and pain. But it’s hard to explain when you can’t reach out to someone."
Hendrie made 25 appearances for the Blades before joining Derby County, in a swap deal for Jordan Stewart.
“It’s a sore subject and I’m not proud of the times I tried to take my life," he added.
"But I want to give something back to people who are also struggling. I can still have bad weeks where I do think about doing the same. But I’m mentally strong enough to try and get over that fact now.
“I had to break the silence about what I’d gone through. I felt I had to do that for my own peace of mind so I could move forward. It makes me feel like I’m achieving something which can help someone else. The darkest times, and the most horrible, could happen to you. It could happen to my son or daughter. It could happen to anyone.”