FROM SUICIDE
A CONTESTANT on television’s gruelling SAS show today tells how she owes her life to her little sister – who is competing alongside her.
Bethany Robinson, 28, suffers from bipolar disorder and planned to throw herself in front of a train as she battled through a “dark depression”.
It was only when her sister Elouise Gregor, 26, introduced her to weightlifting and CrossFit exercise that Bethany’s condition eased. It proved to be the making of her – literally saving her life.
Bethany says: “If Elouise hadn’t have helped me, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Now they are the first sisters to take part in SAS: Who Dares Wins – the Channel 4 show that sees recruits go through brutal special forces training.
Bethany, an art teacher from Cornwall, says: “I was in a black hole and didn’t know how to get out. I definitely would have killed myself.
“My sister rang my mum the day I’d planned to do it and my mum called the police, who came and got me.
RECOVERY
“I don’t remember the two months after that because I was in such a deep depression. Elouise hatched a plan to help me. She set up a home gym and encouraged me to start exercising. I began feeling better straight away – it set me on the road to recovery.”
Bethany had put on weight during her depression and reached 18 stone.
But after working out, she lost six stone in a year. She has since lost a further stone.
The sisters compete in CrossFit and Olympic powerlifting and have dozens of podium finishes between them.
Elouise, a solicitor, says: “It was horrific seeing Beth being so self-destructive and unhappy. I would have done anything to help her.
“She pushed me away, but the gym was the place we reconnected. We became best friends again.”
Bethany’s issues began after she left an abusive relationship aged 19. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after two particularly bad episodes.
She explains: “I was in the darkest depression, but I had lots of energy because I was coming off of a manic period and had been out partying.
“My mind was telling me there was no way out and nothing was ever going to get better. All I could think about was killing myself. It was totally irrational.
“It happened twice. The first time, I planned to throw myself under a train. I was determined to do it. Luckily the train station was closed and my sister rang my mum, who called the police.
“The second time, I had all these thoughts about killing myself. I banged my head against a wall, because I thought if I could knock myself out, the thoughts would stop. I got help after those two episodes – I don’t think I’d have survived a third.”
Bethany began counselling and was put on medication in mid-2016. But by the end of the year, doctors told her it wasn’t working. That’s when Elouise
Elouise set up a home gym and I felt better right away BETHANY ROBINSON ON LIFESAVING SISTER
stepped in and encouraged Bethany – who had been sporty in her youth – to start working out.
They lifted weights in their home gym and Bethany found she was good at it.
She says: “I got back into fitness by deadlifting – I could lift 170kg, which is a huge amount for a woman. It made me fall in love with the sport and I started going to CrossFit six times a week with