‘Lucky’ marathon runner urges others to talk about suicidal thoughts

A man who spoke about his own suicide attempt to encourage others to seek help is running the London Marathon to urge people to “Believe in Tomorrow”.

Samaritans, the event’s charity of the year, hopes people will embrace the slogan and open up to someone about how they are feeling after a survey found one in five (20%) people had experienced suicidal thoughts.

Dan Hodges, 32, said he was “generally unhappy” but had not spoken to anyone about his feelings before he tried to take his own life in 2017, at the age of 26.

“I suppose it was just that stigma around it,” Mr Hodges, from St Helens, Merseyside, told the PA news agency.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t happen now but I thought I’d just get a lot of stick for it.”

After losing several jobs, he went back to live with his parents and it was Mr Hodges’ mum, Kathryn, who found him after he attempted to take his own life.

He woke up in Whiston Hospital and saw his mother in tears at his bedside.

“It was from that moment I knew I needed to do something about this. I needed to change my ways,” he said.

Mr Hodges said he had developed a “party lifestyle” and was regularly drinking alcohol and taking cocaine.

“I didn’t think I was an addict but I was. When I cast my mind back I was probably an awful person to be around.”

He did not tell anyone except his mother about the suicide attempt until three years later when he realised he knew 27 people who had taken their own lives.

Mr Hodges said he had been “very lucky” to survive and wanted his story of hope to help others to talk to someone if they were struggling.

Boxer Tyson Fury’s decision to speak openly about his own mental health challenges and struggles with addiction was an inspiration which Mr Hodges said made him think: “If he can do it, there’s no reason I can’t.

“I’m very much an open book now.”

He added: “For the most part, people aren’t going to judge you, they are just going to help you.

“I think it’s just trying to get that through to young men.”

In 2022 there were 5,623 suicides in England and Wales, with three-quarters being men.

“More people do open up about their feelings. Not as much as I’d like but it’s going the right way,” Mr Hodges added.

“Samaritans just provided a comforting conversation when I was on the road to recovery.”

Mr Hodges, who works in employer relations to open up sustainable job opportunities in the north west of England, said setting himself goals and completing challenges has been key to his recovery.

“I’m very target driven. If you give me a goal I will do everything I can to meet that goal,” he said.

“I tried to use that to my advantage.”

In 2018, a year after his suicide attempt, he trekked to Everest Base Camp for the Steve Prescott Foundation, a charity set up in memory of the former St Helens rugby league player who died in 2013, aged 39, after developing a rare form of cancer.

“A year later I went from rock bottom to on top of the world at Everest Base Camp.

“I thought ‘I like this feeling’,” he told PA.

He got a ballot place for the 2019 London Marathon and said while Everest Base Camp was a team effort, his first marathon “was the first time I had done it myself”.

Other challenges have followed including being part of a team which holds the Guinness world record for the highest altitude burger delivered on land after the group took one to Mount Kilimanjaro in 2022.

“You could say I have swapped one addiction for another,” he said.

Mr Hodges said everyone has bad days but exercise has given him “structure” and he knows feeling down will just be temporary.

“The days I don’t train, I’m susceptible to that. I generally do my work out in the morning. That’s probably the hardest thing I’m going to do today. It puts me in a really good mood.”

He added: “You don’t have to run a marathon or go to Everest, that’s just what works for me. I don’t take drugs though I occasionally have a drink.”

He said, without goals, he could end up going to the pub and falling back into a lifestyle which is not good for him.

He credits running with saving his life: “It’s so accessible. It’s good to just go running and be at one with nature. I’d highly recommend that to anyone.”

On April 21, he will run the TCS London Marathon for a second time, and he said it was an easy decision to join the Samaritans fundraising team with a charity place.

“The London Marathon is just great,” he said.

“Every single person has their own reason why they are doing this, whether it’s a charity, a personal goal, running for someone who is no longer there or to even break a record.

“We all need to do something special on that one day. It’s such a magic event.”

– To sponsor Dan Hodges, visit: https://2024tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com/pf/daniel-hodges

– Anyone can contact Samaritans, free, 24/7, on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or visit www.samaritans.org