In the early hours of 18 April 2026, my son Coby, just 15 years old, attempted to take his own life.

On the surface, he appeared to be a happy, active teenage boy. He was doing well at school, playing football for two local teams, and enjoying what looked like a ‘normal’ teenage life.

But depression is not always visible.

Since that day, our lives have changed completely. We have been focused on supporting Coby through emergency treatment and his ongoing recovery.

He underwent major spinal surgery and has now embarked on a new chapter at Stoke Mandeville’s Spinal Rehabilitation Centre.

The road ahead will be long and challenging, but he is already showing incredible physical and mental strength. We are immensely proud of him and deeply grateful that he is still here.

As a family, we now want to use our experience to raise awareness and encourage more open conversations around young people’s mental health, especially boys’ and men’s.

On the 10 July my best mate Rob Taylor, Tom Staples and I will be walking the full 42-mile Greensand Ridge route across Central Bedfordshire in a single day to raise money for YoungMinds and help increase mental health awareness.

Anyone is more than welcome to join us for part of the route, or even the whole challenge, if they’d like to get involved.

YoungMinds undertake vital work helping young people get support early, before mental health problems reach crisis point, ensuring they don’t have to face their struggles alone.

All donations will go directly towards supporting their valuable work.

Any contribution, no matter how small, would mean a great deal and will help support young people who need it the most.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story, and for any support or sharing.