From rock-bottom to living ICONIC FUNDRAISER REVEALS STRUGGLES AS A TEENAGER

HE’S 6ft 6 inches tall with a huge personality to match – but Big Pink Dress Colin Burgin-plews has revealed he tried to take his own life when he was a teenager.

On Wednesday he celebrated his 52nd birthday and to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week he opened his heart to tell how he struggled when at school.

Being bullied and not fitting in, he believed the world would be a better place without him.

But after being plucked from death after being discovered by his mum, he’s built on a life where he has helped others and brought happiness to thousands.

To date Colin, of South Shields, has raised over £132,000 after running almost 50 marathons, half marathons and 10k races – all in the most flamboyant of dresses.

And he’s spoken out to help others struggling with mental health.

He has teamed up with Julie Brown and Leanne Macdonald, who launched My Mental Health Rocks which delivers mental health workshops to hundreds of children and parents.

And his story has been featured in a book written by the pair called ‘Conversations I Would Have With My Teenage Self – uncovering wellbeing in teens,’ and is selling on Amazon.

“On that day I tried to take my life I wrote a note and I had a bible at the side of my bed. I fell

■ Colin Burgin-plews – also known as Big Pink Dress – at Penshaw Monument and in some of his colourful outfits of years gone by