This time last year Sarah Goldsborough feared she wouldn't live to see her 36th birthday.
Her mental health was at its lowest after losing her second baby in eight months and struggling to come to terms with the loss she found it difficult to leave her home. The mum-of-three shut herself away from people as her anxiety peaked and she began suffering from regular panic attacks.
Sarah, from Whitley Bay, said: "With miscarriages there's no funeral and it's almost as if people expect you to just move on straight away. But for me I questioned everything like 'why?' and 'what was wrong with me?'
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"I shut myself away from everybody and my mental health was at its very worse and I knew I needed something to try and fight my way out of it."
She added: "My panic attacks were disabling me, they were horrific. Every other day I was ringing an ambulance because it felt like I was going to die.
"I needed something to numb my mind because I didn't like the intrusive thoughts that I was having. I needed something to let me breathe and refocus my mind."
It was at this point that Sarah decided she needed to do something to help her heal from the trauma she had experienced. She felt she needed something to shock her body and numb her mind and decided to challenge herself to a daily cold water therapy swim for 30 days.
However, after realising that "mental health recovery doesn't come with an expiry date" she decided to extend her challenge and embark on a cold water swim every day for a full year. Along the way she has travelled to beaches, rivers and waterfalls around the country, although Bamburgh beach and Janet's Foss waterfall have remained some of her favourite spots.
Each day Sarah has been completing the challenge she has shared a video diary online in which she has opened up about her mental health and the journey she has been on over the last year. She has made friends along the way, as well as finding her confidence and acceptance for herself.
Sarah said: "It sounds cringey to say this but cold water therapy has saved my life. It has given me a new lease of life, I've found who I am, I've learned to love myself. I've lost two-and-a-half-stone on the journey and it's given me the energy to go back to the gym.
"I feel like I'm a brand new woman and all that has come from being in nature, in the water."
And now Sarah is inviting people to join her for a birthday swim to celebrate her completing a full year of daily cold water therapy swims. Anyone wishing to attend is invited to join Sarah at Cullercoats Bay at 12pm on Sunday.
She added: "It's going to be emotional and I know there's going to be some ugly tears but I'm so excited for it. I'm just so pleased I didn't give up in the hardest storm."
As well as prioritising her own mental health on the journey, Sarah has been using the challenge to raise money for Mental Health Matters, with the hope of helping others living with poor mental health.
Anyone wishing to donate to her charity fundraiser can do so via Sarah's GoFundMe page, here. More information about Sarah's one year anniversary cold water swim can be found here.
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