Ex-pro rugby player from Liverpool drags bodyweight to symbolise mental health burden

An ex-professional rugby player from Liverpool is urging men to talk about their mental health after suffering with anxiety and depression on his own.

Tom Armstrong, 34, took on a 48-hour challenge dragging 100kg across the Fylde Coast in Lancashire to raise money for mental health charity 'Talk Your Walk'.

The 100kg of weights, equivalent to his body weight, along with clothes, food and other supplies for the two-day feat were all in a tray attached to a wearable vest by a long cord.

He set off at 10am on Friday 3 November and finished at 10am on Sunday 5 November.

The challenge was designed to be a 'visual representation of the metaphorical weight of mental health issues'.

Talking about his own experience with his mental health, Tom said: "I used to stay awake for days and was carrying around this emotional weight.

"I want to try and show that so people can actually see the weight that you feel like you carry around everyday."

Tom says he got himself out of a bad place with meditation, fitness and a lot of self-motivation but that makes him all the more passionate that people talk about their mental health with others.

He says: "I was in such a bad way at the time because I didn't speak to people, I kept it hidden and just bottled it up.

"That's why I am advocating this so much because I did the opposite, I could have got out of it much quicker.

"I didn't have to be in there for three, four years time just struggling."

Tom grew up playing rugby after moving to St Helens aged 5, eventually going on to play professionally.

He suffered a hip injury at age 28 that abruptly ended his professional rugby career.

After the loss of his career, Tom set up a new business but when his wife Danielle fell ill with cancer and he had a newborn baby to care for, he could not continue with it.

His problems were compounded by the pandemic that hit around six months after, the UK was in lockdown and Tom did not qualify for any finance from the government.

Tom lives with adult ADHD, which is treated with prescribed amphetamines. He found himself in a dark place and began abusing his medication to get through the day.

He described the moment he decided he needed to change: "It was about 3 o'clock in the morning and I was feeding my son. I went to get a can from the fridge and I thought 'I need to make a change'."

Every year Tom takes on a physical challenge to raise money for charity, raise awareness for men's mental health, and to set an example for his son, Atlas.

This year's challenge was no different and speaking only four hours into the 48-hour walk, he was already feeling the toll on his body.

Talk Your Walk is a foundation set up by Tom and other rugby players to try and remove the stigma around mental health, especially for men.

Tom hopes to raise £10,000 in donations, more information can be found on the Just Giving Page.

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