'MY RUGBY CAREER WAS RIPPED AWAY AND I FEARED I WAS GOING TO DIE'

X-PROFESSIONAL rugby player Lennon Greggains says players need more support when being let go from Welsh regions, after his mental health hit an all-time-low when his Dragons RFC career ended aged 25.

- HOLLY MORGAN

Greggains, now 26, joined the Dragons Academy at 15, and the prospect of him playing rugby for a living was a dream come true to the once eight-year-old boy who started playing for Newport HSOB on the weekends growing up.

For a while, Greggains was one of former coach Dean Ryan’s favourites, signing his first pro contract in 2017 aged 18, and regularly being picked for the squad as he represented Wales in all age groups.

Then, disaster struck. In the summer of 2019 he tore his ACL during the pre-season, and from that point on things were never the same.

Greggains faced set-back after set-back, injury after injury, taking a nasty blow to the forearm before breaking both of his shoulders in the years following.

He says he did not prepare for the end of his career, and neither did any of his peers, because they simply focused everything they had on the sport from the minute they got given the chance.

It was his lifestyle, his identity, his purpose. When it was over, Greggains lost himself.

He describes how during the transition his anxiety got so severe, he was experiencing frequent panic attacks and would go to bed at night dreading having to wake up the next morning.

"When I say I was in a real bad place, I would dread waking up every day. These feelings started the day I was told I wasn't going to be staying at the Dragons," he said.

"Anxiety and depression came straight at me. It was the realisation that everything I ever wanted in my life has come to an end.

"I remember having a panic attack in training whilst I was on the bike.

"I was suffering so badly with anxiety that I was getting physical symptoms, which led to me believing I had a chronic illness.

"From the March I was having constant panic attacks, I couldn't leave Newport, couldn't leave the country.