'Well done brother...' - Tony Bellew hails ex-Everton player for emotional admission
Everton FC news: He praised one of Everton’s former wingers who spoke out on the topic of mental health.
Ex-world champion boxer Tony Bellew has hailed former Everton winger Aaron Lennon for speaking out on the topic of mental health.
Lennon, who joined Everton initially on loan before joining on a permanent deal in 2015 until 2018, has opened up on the time he was taken to hospital during his time at the club - where he was detained under the Mental Health Act 2007.
In 2017, he was detained under the act and taken to hospital after police were called to reports of danger to a man's life while he was at Everton. He has spoken about the incident having received care for a stress-related illness. Now, the 37-year-old has opened up on the latest edition of The Overlap, speaking on how that effected his mental health. 'Seven years ago I was in a really, really bad place,' he began. 'Like, severe depression.’
'It probably started before that, but I actually at the time didn't know what was going on. Just waking up each day, not realising why I am feeling this way, energy is low, not really wanted to join in with the lads in training.
'I was one of them, quite the old school personality, keep myself to myself. I used to try and look after everyone else. There was never a time where I thought, should I go and ask, tell the doc, "I'm not feeling alright here?"
'So I tried to just brush it aside, and I was getting worse and worse. You get to a stage where you can't even get out of bed, not want to be around people, just want to be in the dark.’
Bellew, the famous Everton fan, took to X to pay his respect to the former winger, saying his interview will help a lot of people. ‘Az is a top man and this interview will help so many men out there who are struggling! Well done brother for speaking up.. Men WE ALL NEED to follow suit.. #SpeakUp #MentalHealth’.
Lennon played 77 times for Everton, scoring nine times and providing three assists featuring under Roberto Martinez but he fell down the pecking under Ronald Koeman and left for Sean Dyche’s Burnley in January 2018.