Edinburgh man to tackle 10 Ironman triathlons to mark decade since he attempted to take his life

An Edinburgh man who plans to tackle ten Ironman triathlons in ten days hopes that sharing his story of attempting to take his own life will inspire others to talk about their mental health.

Fergus Crawley will take on the challenge in a different city each day, raising funds for the charity CALM, and wants others to join him along the way.

While studying at Durham University ten years ago, Fergus realised the course wasn’t the right fit and that he wasn’t surrounded by like-minded people.

“I was feeling isolated, lonely and a failure,” the 30-year-old said.

Despite having a loving family and friendly people around him, Fergus was setting standards for what he regarded as success that he simply couldn’t match.

“My perception of masculinity was not to show emotion, vulnerability or weakness. I couldn’t eat, train, sleep or focus and eventually, I felt so desperate.

“This definition of masculinity, this absolute forward motion, rigid follow these steps and you’ll be successful mindset that I had, nearly killed me.”

Fergus attempted to take his own life. He hadn’t realised he was spiralling so much, but after keeping everything bottled up, it had reached a tipping point.

Since then, Fergus has changed the way he thinks about life – something that has helped him become an entrepreneur, founding Omnia Performance, a coaching company for athletes.

He has also turned to taking on fitness challenges, raising funds for charity and campaigning around mental health.

Now Fergus is preparing for his biggest challenge yet: ten Ironman-distance triathlons on consecutive days, each taking place in a different city, marking ten years since his mental health reached rock bottom.

Overall, he aims to raise £122,000 for suicide prevention charity CALM to fund 10,000 potentially lifesaving calls.

Fergus told STV News: “A 3.8k swim, a 180k bike and a marathon, all one after another.”

He is asking people to join him for stints along the way, where he hopes to engage people in conversations about their own mental health.

Fergus added: “If you’d asked me prior to this point, did I believe in mental health or depression, I’d have said they are figments of your imagination to disguise laziness or avoid accountability – and they were just labels people could slap on things that could be resolved just by working harder.

“Not only did I feel stupid for feeling the way I did but I felt like I’d be laughed at if I revealed it.

“Conversation can hopefully happen that might pull people out of negative situations, might help them unpack negative situations in the past, looking at a selfish level I really look forward to having those conversations, as I don’t think the job is ever done.”

Fergus gets under way on Thursday, April 30, in Edinburgh. He will finish in London on Saturday, May 9, with stops in Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast and Cardiff.

Help and support is available now if you need it. Details of services available can be found at stv.tv/advice

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org