ENGLAND cricket hero Robin Smith has opened up on his near-death experience.
A mere eighteen months ago, the former England cricketer‘s friends and family were told that he was close to death.
Years of alcohol abuse, which was exacerbated by depression, ravaged his body to the point that doctors told his loved ones that he might only have two days to live.
Severely ravaged organs saw Smith, who played all formats of cricket for England and featured in 62 Test matches, hospitalised for four months.
After being forced to leave the hospital to make way for a new patient, Smith would undergo a painstaking rehab, which included learning how to walk away, with the help of his son Harrison and his wife.
He’d be back on his feet six months later and eventually move into a house of his own.
Smith recently caught up with some former England team-mates before, during and after the first Ashes Test in Perth.
Recalling his interaction with his pals in an interview with The Times, he said: “‘Jeez, Judgie,’ they’re saying, ‘You’re back from the dead.’”
He added: “Everyone is keen to see Lazarus.”
Smith has had many relapses during his decades-long battle with booze, including after the passing of his father, who was living in a nearby care home, just a few months ago.
He candidly admitted: “I thought I had fully recovered.
“Then having seen dad in the state he was, and living on my own, I got back into my… well, you know, once an alcoholic always an alcoholic.
“You always battle to keep away from it. It’s not difficult to go back on the alcohol.”
Smith didn’t hide his relapse from the doctor who gave his loved ones a devastating prognosis.
He added: “After that week where I started drinking again, I saw the professor who had spoken to my family about me not necessarily making it.
“I told him I’d let myself down. He said, ‘If you’ve been drinking again, you must be a cat with nine lives.
“‘Because many other people wouldn’t have survived this.’ I’m on my last warning, I know.”
Opening up is something the beloved Smith was once afraid to do.
Everyone is keen to see Lazarus.”
Robin Smith
And his fear of opening up almost resulted in him taking twice taking his life.
In a heartbreaking confession to the Daily Mail, he said : “I speak a little bit now publicly about mental health.
“And I was very, very close twice, within minutes, of finishing my life.
“I wish I’d spoken to my friends. I didn’t want to burden them with my problems, but I should have reached out to them.
“Anyone who thinks they might be a burden on their friends, they’re absolutely not.
“You’ve just got to be open and be yourself.”
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
