West Ham defender Gilly Flaherty has spoken out for the first time about her battle with depression and the lowpoint of taking an overdose as a teenager.

Speaking to the West Ham website, on Time to Talk Day, the 28 year-old says: “My battle with my mental health started when I was 16 or 17, when I felt I was struggling the most. I was away from my family at the Arsenal Academy, I wasn’t doing well with my schoolwork and I was going through other issues as well, such as my sexuality.

“I was playing with Arsenal first team but was on the bench which, looking back, wasn’t a surprise when you consider the team they had. But I didn’t handle that well and, when combined with everything else, a lot of things built up. It led to my lowest moment. The day when I took my overdose.

“I remember going back to my house at Arsenal Academy and doing it. I was speaking to a friend on Facebook Messenger who was in America at the time and I think she could tell I was down. I went to bed but, on the doors you had a lock like you would for a front door. My lock was broken so it was on the latch.

“My friend in America alerted people at home and then my friend came back, found me in the bedroom and took me straight to hospital.”

Despite the seriousness of her situation, Flaherty was keen for her family not to find out about the degree to which she was in need of help.

But fellow Arsenal player and now Wales national team manager Jayne Ludlow intervened because she recognised the seriousness of her team-mate's situation.

“I remember not knowing what was going to happen as I went into hospital," said Flaherty.

"One of the Arsenal players at the time, Jayne Ludlow, also worked with the Academy, and she got in touch with my Mum and Dad. I remember begging her not to tell them, because I didn’t want to get told off, but then the doctors came and explained the reality. I was so close to having to be on dialysis. I wasn’t far away from dying.

“Laying in hospital, with a drip attached, and my Mum and Dad arriving, that was the lowest I have ever felt in my life.”

Flaherty has waited several years to speak about the ordeal she went through as a youngster in football.

And while it has taken her a significant period of her playing career to talk about her struggle with mental health, she feels at this point she is duty-bound to share her story because she could have a positive impact on someone else going through the same thing.

She said: “I think I could have gone through my whole career without mentioning what I’ve been through. But then I think that I’ve got a duty, that I’m in a position where I could affect people in a good way.

“People will probably be shocked. I think they won't be expecting this from me, because I'm such a bubbly person and I'm always happy, and I am now. But I wasn't, and there's a reason why I wasn't.

“I’m a lot stronger now, but it’s only now that I feel really comfortable enough to share that. For me, if I could save one person from doing something drastic, then I’ve made a difference.”

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