Sarah Sadler's life was turned upside down when her fiance's battle with mental health issues finally became too much.

But she's taking that tragedy and using it to create a lasting legacy in his memory.

Beth Hughes finds out more...

A woman never got to marry the love of her life because his body shut down following a long and hard battle with depression, anxiety, and bi-polar.

Sarah Sadler never got to walk down the aisle to greet "the most amazing man I've ever met" because life strains were too much for him to handle.

But Sarah, from Buckley, made sure of one thing after the death of 38-year-old Richard Luke, who died in September 2017.

To this day, Sarah, 39, is campaigning for a larger and more useful support network for men suffering from mental health issues.

She wants her fiancée's passing to act as a catalyst for a reform in the way people look at male mental health today.

"A change is so desperately needed. There is a lot of support out there, but I don't think it's the right kind of support for men - or why would it still be the biggest killer for men under the age of 45?

"Men don't want to do crafts and yoga at a local support centre. Even the language used needs to be changed. Saying things like "we want to give you the tools to deal with stress" is detrimental to a guy's confidence. He has the tools, he has not always felt this way.

"Instead he should just be offered raw, real, support... a network and community built over reminding the guy who he is, that it is ok to not be ok, and that no matter what his journey is he will have someone by his side."

It's only by talking and ending the stigma (as the #endthestigma campaigns) that people can become to feel normal around the elephant in the room, said Sarah. She wants people to acknowledge that the issues Rich faced meant "his body had just taken too much of a strain after years of self-abuse.

"Self-abuse brought on as a coping mechanism to his bipolar, which he was not diagnosed with until the age of 36. With illnesses like bipolar you have it all your life. There is no cure, just ongoing treatment."

Sarah explained that Rich's job in pharmaceutical sales was extremely demanding, and although many commented he was "the youngest person to get to such a high position", the stress took its toll on his physical and mental state.

Sarah said: "He had bipolar, so one positive part of that is that he was very driven and focused. But there are bad parts too. Rich lived in Australia but had to come back to look after his father, who was paralysed. With a stressful job and the issues with his dad, his bipolar got worse.

"So people assume he made a decision to end his life, but it was his body that gave up. The body can't always sustain itself, livers fail, and blood pressures can go through the roof."

Sarah said she is tired of mental health being "the secret illness that no one is talking about." While women often go to the doctors or have a chat with friends, men keep it all in, and: "The more we talk about it, the more lives it could save," she said.

Before passing away, keen guitarist and boxer Rich said he wanted to do 'one last fight' and was then training for a charity boxing match.

But Sarah took his dying wish and was prepared to fulfill it for him after he died. With the support of the Buckley boxing community, family and friends, a charity boxing match will take place on Sunday, May 27, at The Tivoli under the name 'Rich's One Last Round' and proceedings will go to Mind charity, which was close to Rich's heart.

The instant support Sarah received for this event is proof that the region is desperate for an advocate for male mental health. She said she was amazed how the community rallied together not only to pay tribute to much-loved Rick, but to campaign for more awareness around the cause that took his life.

"When Rich passed his loved stayed with me. It's the reason I am doing this event. Rich made me see the world differently -he really was one in a million."

In memory of her "most amazing man," Sarah has gathered, and continues to gather, as many troops as possible to form an army of mental health troops. She was approached by the chairman of Unite The Union for Airbus Broughton, Alan, as "these guys have recently been affected by male mental health in a big way in their factory."

She said: "I was talking about men's mental health to the group at Unite. You could hear a pin drop when I had finished - it resonated with every guy in that room. So much so they have invited me back to do a talk in front of 60-70 people as "they need to hear what you have just said.

"They are just embracing mental health support in the workplace. They should be so proud.

"I honestly feel this message will get through, and I'm also feeling this will then grow into a "Get men talking" campaign. My friends laughed when I said "I'm only doing the boxing event, I'm not doing anything else" - this has now got a life force of its own.

"I will carry on the campaign, by going into places of work, universities or any kind of place to talk about men's mental health, to make this a normal conversation - I would love to do that.

"I hope that talks like this will make this shut down conversation into such a roar, that it can no longer be ignored. This is the biggest killer and yet the biggest secret. I believe making this a normal conversation is our first step to making change.

One manager of a company told Sarah that by addressing mental health in the workplace will "create an excuse or people to slack." The manager said "this will be the new bad back," and Sarah's response was "Maybe the bad back was always mental health."

The self-employed photographer is an avid fan of Mick Coyle, Radio City presenter, who issues a lot of mental health podcasts. She sent him an email, and told him about Rich's One Last Round, then "forgot all about it.

"Apparently there is something called widows brain, I know this too well. A couple of weeks ago he sent an email back saying he would like to promote the event, and if I felt comfortable to go into the tower and do an interview."

Sarah said her discussion on air with Mick has definitely pushed her mental health campaign, and said the backing from that session has been "incredible."

"I would love to create a space for guys to go to and just talk, but it's an idea, I'm not sure how this will happen but hopefully doing these talks will set me in the right direction."

Since the ball has been rolling, Sarah has been approached by many organisations asking if she will get on board their mental health schemes. She said: "I have a Skype call with a guy who wants to set something up of the back of the talks. I also have a mental phone meeting with the CEO and 30 others of a training company who serve the likes of British Airways and Virgin, to talk about mental health in the workplace. So this is awareness of stress and mental health in high power jobs."

Rich's One Last Round won't be the last peg for Sarah. She is starting a new project which includes taking a series of images of guys with their mental health story, and hopes to make this conversation a normal conversation to have

"Be a Red Shoe King campaign is creating calendar, or if we have enough guys, a small book. Let's make this conversation so loud it becomes a roar."