At the age of eleven Frank Bruno was sent to reform school. At thirty-three he was crowned heavyweight champion of the world. At forty-one he was committed to a psychiatric hospital. Now, he's back - with his real story...
Introduction
MY NAME IS FRANK BRUNO. YOU PROBABLY KNOW ME AS A FIGHTER, the happy guy on the telly with the one-liners, the big guy in panto. Maybe you were there the night I won the world title. Maybe you shouted 'Broo-no!' at one of my fights. I was public property, a celebrity they say. And there wasn't much people didn't know about my life, about my wife and kids, the big house in the country, the MBE and all the other trappings. Strangers said hello in the street. They still do. But one Monday in September 2003 I discovered another Frank Bruno - someone even I didn't know.
That was the day I was admitted to a mental hospital. They told me I was a danger to myself and to others. Sectioned, they call it. Banged up. I'd been troubled since I retired. I quit boxing after I lost my title in 1996, and things went seriously wrong in the years after, but I had no idea I was so ill. If I didn't know, who did? Only those very close to me. Without them, I hate to think what would have happened.
When I came out, I had to get to know the new me, the new Bruno. It isn't easy. You have to like yourself, but you have to recognise your faults. I've made mistakes in life - everyone has - and I'll probably make more. But I hope they'll be honest ones.
Most of my life I've been told what to do: in reform school, on the building site, in the gym, on the stage. But in the hospital at Goodmayes, they asked me what I wanted to do. They taught me to be responsible for my actions. They brought order into my life where there had been chaos. When I went in there, I was in a bad way, I'd been mixing with the wrong people, doing drugs, acting weird. I know I have to put my past behind me. I'm forty-three and free. If I want to stay that way, it's up to me.
For all my problems, I've been lucky in life. I got four shots at the world title before I won it. I made a lot of money and a lot of friends. I haven't lost my sense of humour - it's what helped me through my ordeal. I've had laughs from Bogotá to Vegas, and I've got three wonderful kids. I want one more favour from life: I want you to understand what I went through. It's important not just to me but to mentally ill people everywhere, people not as lucky as me, who never get better. And, in case you think it only happens to other people, it might be important to you.
