Australian cricketer Steve Smith helped save two young boys from killing themselves through his sessions on mental health struggle.
Australian cricketer Steve Smith made a remarkable comeback to the national side after serving a year's ban on ball-tampering charges. Smith was the highest run-scorer in the recently-concluded Ashes series, where helped Australia retain the urn. He scored an incredible 774 runs in four Test matches, and is currently the highest run-getter in the longest format this year.
But all was not smooth for the 30-year-old former Australian captain.
After being handed a year's ban following the ball-tampering scandal, Smith suffered from mental health issues. A few weeks after the ban was imposed, the Aussie cricketer decided to open up on his struggles and visited schools to share his story in association with Gotcha4life suicide prevention charity.
The cricketer has now revealed that his story helped save two young boys from killing themselves.
"I was actually driving and I had to pull over and just take a minute to digest what had been said," Smith told Australian newspaper Daily Telegraph.
"Gus (Gus Worland, Australian TV personality alongside whom Smith conducted the mental health chat sessions) gave me a call and said, ''off the back of your chat, two kids have gone into the office and want to get help'."
Smith has been to 25 schools to share his story, according to the newspaper. Since his chat sessions, many boys have stepped forward to open up on their struggles. While some opened up on bullying they faced, one boy was even able to reveal to his father that he is homosexual.
Steve Smith will return to action for Australia in the Test series against Pakistan, which begins on November 21.
