We had to call for help Dad.. or you might not be here now
Bruno’s girl reveals agony
IT is a decision that would tear most families apart.
Yet it wasn’t just once that Frank Bruno’s family agreed for him to be sectioned... it was three times.
And that was the toughest blow in his harrowing battle with mental ill health.
Now, for the first time, one of the retired boxer’s children opens up on why the family thought he should be repeatedly locked up against his will.
“We acted out of love,” his daughter Rachel says, her eyes filling with tears.
“I know that for a long period Dad struggled to come to terms with what we decided to do. But I truly feel if something hadn’t happened, if Dad hadn’t got some help, he might not be here today.”
PRIDE
Rachel is speaking out to raise awareness of the impact mental ill health has on loved ones. She talks of:
Heartbreaking visits she, sister Nicola and brother Franklin made to see their dad in psychiatric units.
Pride at his recovery – and her belief that the family will never need to intervene in his illness again.
Her dad’s vital support as she battles her own anxiety.
Former world heavyweight champ Bruno, 56, details his recovery from bipolar disorder in a new autobiography. He was first sectioned in 2003 after retiring from boxing.
Then, in the space of six weeks in 2012, Bruno was sectioned twice after family grew concerned about his welfare. Writing in Let Me Be Frank about that period he says: “I lay in the dark, my mind racing and I slowly came to terms with reality – that my family and friends had made the call for it to happen.
“I was pacing the room trying to piece together the reasons: Why? Why? Why?”
Rachel, 30, found her father’s words “harrowing” but insists the family were only trying to do their best for him.
She recalls: “Dad wasn’t well. He was preparing for a TV interview with Piers Morgan and was overdoing it. We went for dinner after the show and although it was a massive achievement he was so down. Dad had lost weight and we were getting messages he was acting out of character. His condition was taking hold. But when we tried to reach out, Dad