Labour Party members at Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto launch today heard an emotional message from a supporter who attempted to take his own life due to the pressure of family illnesses.
Martin Killgallen, a father of five from Bradford, said one of his sons suffers from acute asthma while three others have autism.
He said his experience of the NHS was of “mayhem” in hospitals as medical staff struggled to deal with the workload.
“During this time in my life I would work until seven or eight at night an on arriving at home the first thing would do is open a bottle of red wine,” he said.
“I knew this wasn’t for me. I sought help for the local doctor. There wasn’t support for this. I wasn’t an alcoholic.”
He added: “One Sunday night I took a walk on the hard shoulder of the M62. I don’t know how I managed to get there. But the intended outcome was to end my own life. Fortunatlly I didn’t.”
Killgallen said he and his wife realised they were both suffering from severe depression.
The pair now run an autism charity, The Whole Autism Family, and have received an award from the Duke of York for their work.
Killgallen was one of three members of the public who introduced Corbyn at the Labour manifesto launch.