Trigger warning for suicide. Details in this story may be unsuitable for some.
Graham Thorpe died after taking his own life following a battle with depression and anxiety, his family has revealed in a newspaper interview.
The ECB announced last week that Thorpe, widely considered to be among England's greatest batters, had died at the age of 55 . His wife and daughters have since confirmed to Mike Atherton, Thorpe's long-time team-mate, in an interview for the Times that he died by suicide.
Thorpe had not worked in cricket since he was removed from his role as one of England's assistant coaches in the aftermath of their 4-0 defeat in the 2021-22 Ashes. He was due to take over as Afghanistan's head coach but never did after a previous attempt on his own life in May 2022. At the time, he was described as being "seriously ill" in hospital.
"For the past couple of years, Graham had been suffering from major depression and anxiety," Amanda, Thorpe's wife, told the Times . "This led him to make a serious attempt on his life in May 2022, which resulted in a prolonged stay in an intensive care unit. Despite glimpses of hope and of the old Graham, he continued to suffer from depression and anxiety, which at times got very severe. We supported him as a family and he tried many, many treatments but unfortunately none of them really seemed to work.
"Graham was renowned as someone who was very mentally strong on the field and he was in good physical health. But mental illness is a real disease and can affect anyone. Despite having a wife and two daughters whom he loved and who loved him, he did not get better. He was so unwell in recent times and he really did believe that we would be better off without him and we are devastated that he acted on that and took his own life."
She described Thorpe as "a free spirit" and said that he had been well enough to attend a dinner at The Oval in late 2022. "He had his own mind and his own way of going about things," Amanda said. "My favourite memory of him is in Barbados, which he loved, enjoying a rum punch and listening to his favourite reggae after a swim… He was funny and he made us all laugh so much."
Thorpe's elder daughter, Kitty, said, "We are not ashamed of talking about it. There is nothing to hide and it is not a stigma. We were trying to help him get better before and trying to protect him, which is why we said nothing. This is the time now to share the news, however horrible it is. We've wanted to be able to talk and share and we'd now like to raise awareness, too.
"He had loved life and he loved us but he just couldn't see a way out. It was heartbreaking to see how withdrawn he had become. He was not the same person. It was strange to see this person trapped in the body of dad. That's why we've been so happy that the many reflections have been about his life before this illness took over. I'm glad that's how everyone does remember him, rightly so, as the complete character he was."
The Surrey coroner is due to hold an inquest into Thorpe's death on Tuesday.
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