‘That first call saved me from killing myself...’
HEARTBROKEN and haunted by the premature death of his beloved wife Catriona, Tony Hunt says he came close to taking his own life.
The couple were married for 23 years before her life was cut short by pancreatitis.
Stuck in a spiral of despair, wheelchair-bound Tony, 74, saw no point in carrying on alone and assembled an assortment of pills on his table.
He said: “We were together 24 hours a day – she was my best friend and my lover.
“After Catriona died I fell into severe depression and became almost reclusive. I would lie on the bed during the day and under the sheets at night and do little else. I was at the point of considering ending it.
“I stopped eating and thought there was no point living any more.”
The former chef of Wallasey, Merseyside, is one of millions of forgotten pensioners across Britain that have been helped by The Silver Line. Without their ongoing support, Tony has no doubt he would have committed suicide.
He met Scottish Catriona on the Isle of Mull in April 1984, got engaged in June and by November they were married.
Catriona died in hospital, with Tony by her bedside, in 2007, aged just 56. Tony, who has osteoarthritis and Type 2 diabetes, has no children and said he spends most of his days cooped up in his flat.
A virtual recluse for years, he heard about The Silver Line through Age UK and, like many lonely older people, was initially reluctant to reach out for help.
However, he credits the first call he made to the helpline for saving his life.
He now has weekly phone calls with one of the charity’s volunteer friends, Michaela, a married mother-of-one from the Midlands who calls every Tuesday at about 6pm.
Tony explained: “It lifts my week. We clicked straight away. She just reminds me so much of my wife.”
The Silver Line has given hundreds of thousands of pensioners hope.
Stories like Tony’s have seen an army of generous readers giving what they can. Some pledge thousands of pounds, others a small amount from their meagre state pension.
One contained a note that read: “I have read your article in the Daily Express. Try and keep The Silver Line operating.
“I am a 90-year-old and have been alone for the past seven years, no siblings, no children.
“Seven Christmas Days and lunches alone. That’s what loneliness is. God help us all.”