A man who "ran away" from London after having a series of breakdowns and a near-death experience has told the ECHO what led him to move to the Wirral.
Adam Crouch, 34, had been working in London for six years when he found himself depressed and listless, feeling trapped inside the job that had provided him with security, a good salary, bonuses and a structure for a majority of his working life. He had once owed a lot to the job and worked for the same company, who also put him through university, for almost 14 years but would come realise the toll it took on his mental health would be too heavy a price to pay.
Adam, who now runs a kite-surfing school on New Brighton beach, told the ECHO : "I think the depression was coming for quite a while without me really realising.
READ MORE: Thieves ransack city centre jewellers in morning break in
"My whole life was super fast paced, away from the beach, away from the outdoors. I was just stuck in London working really hard all the time. Whenever I could I'd try to escape to the beach at the weekends.
"I bought a van to get away but that didn't work so I ended up moving to East London next to a wake board cable park for the last few years just so I felt like I was outside.
"Construction generally is a pretty dangerous industry. After I decided to leave there was an accident on my last day at work. It was a close-call and three of us could've died. That was hidden up so there was no issue, but then even the people who I was working with didn't even realise we'd been through this terrifying experience.
"The company I worked for were one of the safer construction companies but I was still involved with the most dangerous operations - I was doing all the external stuff, and was constantly working on the roof.
"In the end I spoke to my boss and I said I need to get off the roof otherwise I'm going to jump off. They then pulled me inside let me work on doing the interior installation work for a few projects.
"In the end it got too much. That's when I had a few breakdowns at work, which were totally out of character and then I just quit.
"It was really hard. It was a super well-paid job and I was well on the path of what seems to be expected from everyone - getting a good job, a house, a car, a girlfriend, a dog - but in the end I just gave it all up and ran away.
"There's a lot of lonely people in London, It's a really busy place with loads of people but I think it's probably one of the loneliest places you can live in the UK. Up north there are much nicer communities and it's not hard to get involved."
It was when he was mingling with one of those communities that he discovered his calling. He said: "When Covid hit I ended up going back to Chester where I grew up.
"When the first lockdown ended and we were allowed out I started searching for where people kite-surfed and found a small community in the Wirral so I started coming to the beach. I'd previously worked as a kite surfing instructor in Greece so when people found out I had that skill they were super interested.
"I didn't really have a plan going forward but the kite school and tuition kicked off really fast. I find that a lot of people just want somewhere to belong to, so I hope we've been able to provide that community down at the beach."
Business is still booming for Northern Kites, the name he gave his instructing business, but still, in an effort to make it more inclusive, Adam plans to expand its business into more watersports.
He added: "My life is definitely loads better. I couldn't imagine going back to London or doing my previous job".
Receive our three MyWirral newsletters and breaking news email alerts by signing up here.
