Postman ‘tried to take his own life’ after what happened on round

Chris said the incident severely affected his mental health

A dad who tried to take his own life says he knew he needed to make a “vital change.“ Chris Amos, 39, from Ellesmere Port, told the ECHO how he had always “struggled” with weight but it was in 2020 that the fight got too much.

Chris had been working as a postman until August 2019 when he “blacked out” and fell over a wall. The accident left him out of work and piling on weight, which affected his mental health.

He said: “I had a dislocated elbow, torn ligaments and torn tendons in the muscles in my left arm. I lost 20% of the movement in my arm and went from walking 15 miles a day and eating what I wanted to not moving and still eating what I wanted and I piled weight on.

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“You don’t realise how bad eating makes you feel, it just genuinely makes you feel miserable and the fact I was stuck in a cast for four months didn’t help. It got to the point where I was getting out of breath walking upstairs.“

Chris says his mental health was “badly affected“ and in October 2020 he tried to take his own life. He said: “I felt like if I didn’t do something to change, I was going to die.”

Thankfully, Chris saw an advert for MAN v FAT Football, based in Wirral, and since joining he has lost an incredible 5st 5Ibs. He said: “I joined around five weeks after I tried to take my life.

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“I hadn’t played football since I was about 21. I had toyed with the likes of Slimming World – and I know it doesn’t exclude men – but I feel like it isn’t aimed at men. I just liked the idea of being able to play football, although it was daunting going for the first time, it’s been great.

“If I had carried on as I did it wouldn’t have ended well, something had to change. Now I go to the gym, play sports, and eat better and that’s all from Man v Fat. I’m completely different to how I was four years ago, I feel great and it means I can do more with my kids too.”