Debbie Beard and Amanda Thorpe meet at Royal Foundation event to discuss the loss of their husbands

Debbie Beard and Amanda Thorpe met for the first time at an event launched by the Prince of Wales and the Royal Foundation to promote a nationwide suicide-prevention toolkit, and spoke with the BBC's business editor Simon Jack about losing their husbands.

Both women described the deaths of high-profile sporting figures in their lives: Matt Beard, former Liverpool Women manager, died in hospital on 20 September 2025 and is believed to have taken his own life though an inquest is yet to conclude; Graham Thorpe, the former England and Surrey cricketer, took his own life in 2024 after suffering from depression and anxiety following the loss of his coaching role. Amanda Thorpe has said she believes her husband would still be alive had he received more support from the England and Wales Cricket Board after leaving his coaching role, and the ECB described his passing as "a profound tragedy" and "a stark reminder" of mental-health challenges. Matt Beard left his role at Burnley Women a month before his death, having been in the post for two months, and Burnley said when an inquest into his death was postponed indefinitely they were "aware of an ongoing legal process" and would "not be making any comment at this time."

The event, and the online resource it promotes, On Your Side, aims to encourage sport at every level to make suicide prevention part of its culture; Simon Jack, who conducted the interview, was 17 when his father took his own life. The two women attended to press for follow-through on the toolkit and to share personal testimony about gaps in support and the difficulties families face after a suicide in the sporting community.

Amanda Thorpe described a sequence of pressures that preceded Graham's decline, saying: "Graham had been struggling for the previous year to 18 months during Covid. Graham didn't really like following rules and there were quite a few in Covid - like playing under bubble conditions. So he had been having some medication and therapy in his job. But then Graham lost his job and he didn't see it coming." She added that a leaked video after a tour upset him and contributed to a rapid fall in his wellbeing: "He was probably in shock. He couldn't believe it. And he was embarrassed and ashamed about this stupid video, which to me he blew way out of proportion. But he was in this tunnel where he thought he'd messed it all up. So he went into a quick and steep decline."

On the question of professional help, Amanda recounted details of the treatment Graham received and what she later learned about his state: "He was having therapy sessions. He had 10 sessions. There's obviously the confidentiality but I found out after he made a very serious attempt on his life, when he really hurt himself very badly, that he'd mentioned suicide. I didn't know about that at the time. Of course, I feel that if I'd known, things could have been different. And I did feel that he wasn't really getting better. It was difficult. I felt like maybe he did need more help - maybe residential but we didn't really know where to find that."

Debbie Beard described behavioural changes she observed in Matt amid professional pressures and online abuse: "I think there were changes in behaviour, looking back. Performance-wise the team weren't doing well so there was a lot of abuse on social media. He could never really speak his truth during media interviews of what was going on behind the scenes and he used to sound off to me at home." She said Matt often downplayed his struggles: "Whenever I would say to Matt 'how are things?', he'd be, 'I'm all right, I'm all right'... He didn't want to concern me and the family that he was having these thoughts and that he was going through these different struggles." On the emotional toll of his managerial duties she added: "He did. He used to come home and say: 'I've had a hard conversation today with such and such, I've had to let them go and there were tears.' And he'd say: 'I feel guilty.'"

Both women spoke about isolation and the response of peers in sport; Amanda said friends were "really sad and really gutted" and recalled how Graham felt he had lost people: "When he was really ill he was ashamed and he shut a lot of people out. So it was hard to get through to him. He would say: 'I've lost all my friends.' And I'm like: 'You haven't.' You know that's his brain. 'You haven't lost your friends at all,' I'd say." She also quoted Graham's own approach to highs and lows: "He always used to say: 'Don't get too down about it... it might not be your day.'"

Debbie and Amanda said they will continue to work together after the event to press for better support and for the toolkit to be implemented; as Debbie put it, "We've met today and we are going to meet again." They urged that accessible support and trustworthy therapeutic connections be available when people ask for help, and the event organisers promoted the On Your Side resources as a national tool for sport. If you are suffering distress or despair, details of help and support are available at BBC Action Line.