"I'm fighting a battle that most people can't see," says powerlifter Liam McGarry – his bubbly demeanour and strongman attitude hardening up as he begins his story.

"Although I still walk into the gym and I'm a big strong character who loves to laugh and loves to joke, right now I'm going through it.”

In a sport that encapsulates physical strength, McGarry's candour about his mental health is undoubtedly his most powerful trait.

The 28-year-old powerlifter has hit unimaginable setbacks on his journey to the pinnacle of elite sport.

Since a spinal injury in 2017, which saw him diagnosed with transverse myelitis, McGarry has endured a broken leg, an autoimmune white blood cell disease, a cholesteatoma, bladder fistulas and seven pectoral tears.

But behind all of the physical pain, the Team England athlete says that it is his mental health that is truly suffering – and on Mental Heath Awareness Week, he wants to share his story.

It feels impossible to see the so-often energetic, joking McGarry admit that he is struggling mentally, but when the veil drops and the honesty begins to flow, McGarry reveals himself with a heart-wrenching vulnerability.

"Right now I'm about the saddest I've ever been," he said.

"I like to not think about it and keep my focus on my sport but I'm very sad and struggling a lot.

"I'm desperate and I'm biting back at my team in a way I have never done before. But I always say, 'Big Liam will always be alright'. One day my breakthrough and my time will come."

Unfortunately for McGarry, this is not a new mental battle though it is one he is now tackling with the support he needs, including a network of friends and family around him.

It's a fight that has been ongoing since he was 20 years old and found himself paralysed from a spinal injury.

It was an injury he has openly admitted left him at one of the lowest points of his life, including a heart-breaking conversation with his dad, a hard-to-hear story that he credits as one of the most painful yet pivotal moments on his journey to recovery.


He said: "When my parents were both at my hospital bed at 2am in the morning, I remember looking at my dad dead in the eye and telling him that the second he left the room, the wires would be around my neck.

"It was something at that time I honestly believed I wanted to do and I remember his eyes filling up with tears.

"My dad told me that if I did it then he would do it too and that still gives me goosebumps now.

"That was the moment that I knew that I had a lot of people wanting me to win my battles.

"I know I can't give up because of them. I'm not just doing this for me. The story is always bigger."

Having initially believed his career had been seized from him due to injury, McGarry’s introduction to powerlifting at the Spinal Games in 2018 opened up a whole new world.

It propelled him to achieve his childhood dream of becoming an elite sportsman and he is now able to call himself a Commonwealth Games athlete and Paralympian.

"I've never been shy in admitting that the gym saved my life," he added.

"Without the gym I would be in a very different place and with some of the thoughts that I had in the early days, I might not be here at all.

"Finding the gym got me out of that downward spiral of thoughts.

"I don't just improve myself every day in the gym but I liked the fact that I could be better than able-bodied people."

McGarry’s journey within elite sport has been anything but easy.

He underwent 16 surgeries in 28 days in the lead up to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, including five months of bed rest, before being hit by a horrific autoimmune disease that left him questioning how his body looked.

It was then that doctors learned the prednisone he was taking to recover was weakening his muscles and the cause of a string of seven pectoral tears, the last of which he is still rehabbing from today.

But despite the pain, McGarry has gone from Team England athlete to Paralympian, and qualified for Paris 2024 against all odds with a personal-best lift of 230kg just weeks out from the Games.

"When negative thoughts and self-doubt started to creep in about whether I could qualify, I had to remind myself 'I was dying tomorrow'," he said.

"There was no thoughts of another Commonwealth Games or Paralympics, because you don't know if that will ever come, you have to live for the day."

The epitome of resilience, McGarry has bounced back from sporting injury after sporting injury on the journey to achieve his dreams.

But it is his mental fight he is intent on showcasing. Because no matter what's he going through, no matter the highs or lows, 'Big Liam will always be alright'.

"No one can sit there and say I haven't been through my fair share of physical problems, but when I compare my physical and mental problems, the mental battle has always been tougher," he said.

"Mental health isn't something that comes and goes, it is something you have to top up like your physical health and it's something I'm still noticing everyday.

"People may see me as a big tough bloke, but one of my passions is about enlightening people on the mental struggles we go through as athletes.

"I know the importance of sharing and telling my story."

When life is difficult, Samaritans are here – day or night, 365 days a year. You can call them free on 116 123 or email them at [email protected]. Whoever you are and whatever you’re facing, they won’t judge you or tell you what to do. They’re here to listen so you don’t have to face it alone.