The Espanyol signing who is fighting suicide

BarcelonaIn the penultimate friendly of the preseason, last Saturday at Union Berlin's ground, Manolo González gave his debut as a blue and white player to Tyrhys Dolan (Manchester, 2001), Espanyol's latest signing and the first signing of the Alan Pace eraThe English winger has arrived at Cornellà-El Prat on a free transfer after finishing his contract with Blackburn Rovers and has signed as a parakeet until 2028.

"I'm convinced that his aggressiveness, intensity, and versatility will spread to the team; it's worth having him as a property," Garagarza explained at his presentation this Tuesday at the RCDE Stadium. "I had several options, but when the name Espanyol came up, I didn't think twice," explained the British player, who promised "goals and assists; the more the better."

The suicide of his best friend

In England, Dolan is recognized for his dribbling spirit and the somersaults he performs when scoring goals, but also for his commitment to mental health off the field. "It's a very important issue for me. I lost my best friend to mental health issues. It's very hard. As players, we sometimes hide our feelings, and it's key to show them. Whatever problem you have in life, you have to know there's light at the end of the tunnel if you face it with the right mindset," he expressed. Espanyol shared the clip on social media with the message "Mental health matters"; it's an aspect the club cares about a lot. especially on La21, through the psychology department led by Mar Rovira.

Dolan was referring to Jeremy Wisten, who committed suicide in October 2020, shortly after his 18th birthday. Ty, who visited Wisten's grave every week in England and maintains a close relationship with his parents, was one of the pallbearers and read a poem during the funeral. The two had met at Manchester City's academy when they were 14 and had become inseparable ever since. Jeremy even gave his friend money to occasionally return to Manchester to see each other, even though the current Espanyol player signed for Preston North End's youth system and couldn't afford the gas.

Wisten played as a center back and wanted to be like Kompany, his idol. In early 2018, he suffered a knee injury that kept him out of competition for five months and halted his progress. In 2019, City released him. He couldn't find a team, which kept him from pursuing his dream of becoming a professional player. "The only time Jeremy explained to me that he was depressed was when he met a former coach of his at the gym and told him that he would benefit from doing individual sessions to recover. He explained to me that he thought it was too late to return to football. That was months before he died," Dolan said in an interview with the BBC. He wants to prevent further cases like Wisten's.

Since Wisten's death, Dolan has been deeply committed to mental health. He does this by raising awareness through the media presence he has as a footballer and by collaborating with Go Again, an English NGO for which he is an ambassador and founded by Robert Broomhead, a mental health professional who has worked in psychiatric units with kids who attempted suicide after leaving a football academy.

"I met two former players who had a very similar story; when they left their respective clubs, they found it very difficult to find support and felt that, after working hard to be professional, they had lost their identity. They both believed that not enough support was given to people in their situation. So, through social media, I contacted sports organizations who agreed to help me, and I founded the charity Go Again to address cases like those of these two boys," Broomhead explains to the ARA.

"Tyrhys knew what we were doing and contacted us. He explained how the loss of his best friend had affected him and told us he wanted to raise awareness and help people in a similar situation. He supports us, is working to publicize our work," and has always offered his support. Founder of Go Again about Dolan, Espanyol's new signing who is fighting against suicide and mental disorders.