A dad who considered taking his own life due to debilitating anxiety is campaigning for an emergency mental health telephone to be installed in every town.

Craig Harker, from Margate, wants them to become the norm, like defibrillators, and allow people having a mental health crisis to access support at the touch of a button.

The 34-year-old says he recently found himself in need of speaking to the Samaritans, but with no battery on his mobile and no working phone box in sight, he instead climbed over the railings to a clifftop.

"I walked for two hours trying to find a phone box, I was feeling desperate and I found one but it was full of cobwebs and no dialling tone," he said.

"To me it felt like a sign that there was no one there to help and so I climbed over the railing."

The former St George's Church of England School pupil says somehow he managed to "pull himself together" but realised that for some else it could have ended in tragedy.

"It made me realise that in that moment I needed someone at the end of the phone but I couldn't get that," he said.

'It's a lifeline that could save someone'

"You have defibrillators in towns, so why not have a Samaritans phone helpline which you can pick up and connects you to people who deal with mental health?

"It's a lifeline that could save someone."

Mr Harker, who lost two school friends to suicide, has started a fundraising campaign for the mental health charity We Are With You and also to launch his helpline idea.

His own struggles began due to personal problems in his life which led to a six-year addiction to speed, which he has now recovered from but which made his anxiety levels sky-rocket.

"Imagine thinking your family want to disown you and that they don't want you around," he said.

"I separated myself from society. I was living in a tent in my parents' back garden.

"I felt so down like I was dying from the inside out. I felt alone and struggled to socialise and so hid away from everyone and pushed them away."

When he did try to access help, he says he wasn't considered a priority for a mental health placement, but didn't feel ready to start taking medication suggested by his GP.

Mr Harker hit crisis point in February and was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack which turned out to be a severe panic attack.

He was then put on medication and given counselling sessions through We Are With You, something he says has helped massively.

"I wish I'd had that at the start, it helped me understand everything and what my triggers are," he said.

"They helped me so much and I can now see a light at the end of the tunnel.

"I’m happy to say that my life has changed for the better. I have taken up running and fitness and my aim is to be the best I can be."

But despite his turnaround, which includes training for a half marathon, he had a "bad day" recently which led him to the clifftop.

However, he says he is using this traumatic event to do something positive by trying to get support for others.

"If I could raise enough money to get an SOS emergency mental health volunteer hotline, one per town, it could be a lifeline for others that need it," he said.

To support his campaign visit https://bit.ly/3yqyf8J

For confidential support on an emotional issue, call Samaritans on 116 123 at any time or click here to visit the website.

If you want to talk to someone confidentially, click here.

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