Former England cricketer Graham Thorpe’s wife has shone light on his battle with mental health following suicide The 54-year-old Thorpe, who played in 100 Test matches for England and was a veteran of county cricket before announcing his retirement last month,suffered from severe depression and anxiety over the course of two years. Its treatment continued for long but in 2024 he eventually finished his life tragically.
Amanda Thorpe (pictured) told The Times in a tearful interview that Graham’s mental health declined rapidly. For the past two years Graham had been battling severe depression and anxiety. He tried to take his life in May 2022 which led him being put on life support for close a year. There were glimpses of hope but he was seriously ill.
He could handle the pressure of never knowing where his next contract would come from and he was in him prime physically, but none of that is to say mental illness can’t strike someone at random,” Amanda said. No matter how much we showed him love, support and got him the treatment he needed, In his head it would always be better for us if was dead.
The Thorpe family chose to go public in an effort to help others suffering from mental ill-health. Ms Thorpe’s daughter, Kitty said: “We are not afraid to speak about it. Mental illness is not a curse. We want to tell our story so that others can have the understanding and awareness.