FORMER world champion boxer Wayne McCullough has revealed how he felt suicidal at the peak of his career in the mid-1990s.
McCullough, who held the WBC bantamweight world title from 1995 to 1997, revealed how pressure he felt following his Olympic title win in 1992 and susequent world title led him to contemplate suicide for six months in 1996.
Speaking to the Weigh In Boxing Show podcast, McCullough talked about the effect of boxing on his mental health.
He said: "When you get hit up the head over and over, the balance in your mind, it's got to do something to you."
McCullough revealed as he thought about suicide, "it got to the point where I wasn't scared to do it."
The former boxer revealed how his wife Cheryl helped him through after he opened up about his mental health and he advised others suffering to seek help.
"Any day I might feel really down, I talk to my wife. If you talk to somebody - anybody - you can fix your mind," he said.
He also revealed how his decision to seek help led to the birth of his daughter in 1998.
"I'm so glad I'm here," he said. "Every time I look at my daughter, she's a little piece of me and I just think... I would never have known her."
"There are people out there who want you to live for them."
