Ex-professional footballer and boxer, Leon McKenzie, opened up about the emotions he experienced whilst penning his hard-hitting autobiography, My Fight With Life.
The book, which was released in 2012, described McKenzie's battle against mental illness over the course of his 18-year career at the very top of professional football.
But after reflecting back at what he would have changed about the book, McKenzie admitted that his writing would now be very different:
"I wrote an autobiography, called My Fight With Life. The difference is that my thinking now is that I would be writing that very different. When I look back, even though I wrote it, there were times when there was bitterness, anger and sadness in there.
"But all these emotions were just coming up for whatever reason, but sometimes it’s the timing of things which you have to allow for. At that particular time, I had all these emotions going on."
After a failed suicide attempt in 2009, and the shocking news that Wales manager Gary Speed had taken his own life, McKenzie began to advocate for mental health awareness. The ex-pro is now the head of partnerships at Life After Professional Sport, and also founded Mind Reposition.
"I’m not trying to put blame on anyone." McKenzie said. "I’m not blaming football as such, but I try to keep it as real as possible and bring a better understanding."
Photo credit: The Independent
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