Taken from www.walesonline.co.uk
At 19 years old, Abertillery born Matthew Creel had a long and promising rugby career ahead of him, with the powerful back rower tipped as a sure thing to sign a professional contract.
However, when a serious heart condition cut his playing days short, Matthew fell in to a state of depression that would change his outlook on life forever.
Now 37, the support worker from Blaenau Gwent runs the Tidy Butt mental health support group, a team he started in 2020 with the aim of helping others in the borough who may be struggling with the same effects of depression as he did.
Matthew smiles as he wanders around his local rugby field of Abertillery Park, and describes the journey that led him to set up a group that is currently helping support hundreds of people right across the valleys.
He said: "It was here on Abertillery Park, when I was playing rugby, that I suffered a serious heart failure. It was during a water break that I felt my arms and legs go numb, then there was a tingling down my spine and I just collapsed.
"I knew it was serious, but when they told me about my heart condition, and that I would never play rugby again I was absolutely devastated. At that time I was at rugby four or five times a week, so to go from that to the point where you can barely get out of bed was very hard.
He added: "Just like that my life had changed and I was at a low point for quite a long time because of it. I was constantly looking for that next thing to fill the gap that rugby had left, and being in that frame of mind really took it's toll on me.
"Like many men I wouldn't talk about what was going on, and if someone were to ask me how I was doing I would just say 'Tidy butt' and brush it off, but when you bottle up these sorts of things you can really compound matters and make them worse.
"For me the turning point came when I actually opened up to my wife and family, as I immediately felt like a massive weight was lifted off my shoulders, and I could start to get better and push on.
"I'm proof that you can recover from both mental and physical illness, and I want to share that message with as many people as I can now."
Matthew, a self described family man who lives at home in Blaina with his wife Natalie and two sons, said the future looks bright for him, and believes that by teaching other people the coping strategies and techniques he used to overcome his own depression, he can have a positive impact on them as well.
He started the group in early 2020 as a place for people to talk through their problems online, though after an influx of member requests, the project has grown bigger than he could have imagined.
He added: "There's lots of things you can do to help yourself in these situations, but aside from seeking medical help, the biggest thing I would say is just talking to someone. Of course there's more to it than that, but I can't emphasise enough how important that first step is.
"I started the group to have a place where people could do this, and the way it's taken off has honestly been remarkable. It's grown so quickly and we've had a great response from the people involved saying how much it has helped them.
"We're currently putting the steps in place to become a registered charity and we have over a thousand members, with a number of athletes coming onboard.