Running with no shirt has helped me feel on top of the world

A BARE-CHESTED amateur athlete who is raising money for a suicide prevention charity in today's Great Scottish Run has told how the sport saved his life.

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Jonathan Doku fell into "a hole of depression" in 2019 that drove him to consider taking his own life.

The 29-year-old, who was born in London and moved to Scotland in 2016, took up running as a hobby during the Covid pandemic before fully embracing the pastime in 2023.

Jonathan, who lives in Hyndland, Glasgow, is now set to join more than 32,000 runners in today's Great Scottish Run 10k and half marathon event.

Jonathan, the grandson of a Trinidad and Tobago runner, is hoping to raise at least £1000 for suicide prevention charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM).

He explained: "At points, I could not get out of bed or even muster the courage to face the outside world, let alone myself. The only real reason why I didn't end my life at the time is that I didn't have the courage to take it.

"Everything just got too much. I fell into a deep depressive state.

"But one day I simply started running, putting one foot in front of the other. Run by run, I found a new way, a confidence and a purpose.

"I remember coming back from a run one time and thought, 'That was absolutely brilliant.

"And I decided right then I was really going to buy into this. It came down to a mentality.