Bruno is back in hospital battling depression

Bipolar boxing hero seeks help after family concern

FRANK Bruno has been readmitted to hospital after suffering a relapse in his battle with bipolar disorder.

The former world heavyweight boxing champion has been sectioned three times in the past 12 years after quitting the ring 16 years ago.

However, on this occasion Bruno, 53, decided to voluntarily admit himself to hospital after friends and family became concerned.

Bipolar disorder – which causes extreme and debilitating mood swings – is likely to affect one in 100 people at some point in their life.

Bruno was last seen in public at the Great North Run last weekend

‘No shame in saying that you need help’

as he took part in the half marathon from Newcastle to South Shields to raise money for disabled children. He seemed relaxed as he posed for photographs with fans, and l aughed and j oked as he signed autographs.

But less than a week later, Bruno admitted himself to hospital. His spokesman Dave Davies said: ‘After a very busy period Frank decided to seek medical assistance to help with a severe bout of depression.’

The boxer – who is a mental health ambassador – was due to speak about his career at a dinner in Lincoln tonight. Boxer David Haye will now stand in for him.

A close friend told the Daily Mirror: ‘It is terribly sad but Frank has been struggling for the last few weeks now and needed to get some help. He has taken this step in a bid to try to make sure he gets better and back to his best as soon as he can ... Frank’s a fighter and this is a battle he is determined to win.’

Bruno married his long-term partner Laura in 1990, but the couple divorced 11 years later.

They have two daughters, Nicola and Rachel, and a son, Franklyn.

The boxer appeared in a BBC documentary about his struggle Charity: Boxer Frank Bruno took part in the Great North Run event last Sunday with bipolar disorder two years ago with his daughter Rachel, then 26.

She said at the time: ‘Before he was sectioned we’d lost my dad and if he hadn’t got treatment I’m not sure we would have got him back.’

Bruno was first sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003, when he was taken by medics and police from his home in Brentwood, Essex, to a nearby hospital. Describing another stint in hospital in an interview three years ago, he said: ‘I was in there five weeks but it felt like five years. It is harder than being in the ring.’

Bruno has also hit out at the stigma surrounding mental health problems, saying: ‘If there is one thing I have learned from my illness it is that there is no shame and no harm in saying you need help.’