Fighting for his mental health – Harrison’s story

Fighting for his mental health – Harrison’s story

Calon Cymru Fostering is proud to have sponsored Harrison Teify Davies, nephew of Calon Cymru Supervising Social Worker Sandra, at a recent boxing event.
Being extremely proud of her nephew for overcoming mental health troubles and weight gain through boxing, Sandra came to us with his inspirational story, and we wanted to support his journey too.
She stated,

“Calon Cymru is always there to support our families and I knew they would be happy to sponsor Harrison and get him through this fight. I am really grateful and appreciate their support”.

During Covid, Harrison found himself struggling with his mental health; he was also gaining weight and starting to feel not like himself anymore. He would often find himself getting very upset or having temper flare-ups.
Harrison decided he needed an outlet for his feelings and chose to take up boxing, this not only helped him to manage his weight but to clear his mind and find the headspace he had been struggling to find before.

“Boxing has given me a way to focus my mind,” noted Harrison “I look forward to going to the training gym each week.”

The support that he was getting from his coaches was helping to make him feel a part of something important and Harrison quickly found himself in a much better place. On top of this Harrison had become a talented boxer and was starting to compete.

“Everyone comments on how ‘a healthy body is a healthy mind’ but until we saw the changes in Harrison’s attitude to life, I don’t think any of us had realised how powerful that could be, Harrison included.” Said Harrison’s mum Sara “He is now a confident young man, who understands that hard work has to be put in to gain the rewards. He has won many fights, and lost some too, again this is teaching him valuable lessons that he will take throughout life and apply them in many areas. Exercise will always be part of his routine as he now understands that ‘a healthy body is a healthy mind’.”

Harrison is a fantastic example of how exercise can benefit your body and mind as well as the importance of finding a place where you feel like you belong. This is something that we regularly see in both our carers and the children that they take into their homes and make a part of their families.

Unfortunately, due to his opponent’s illness, Harrison was unable to fight but still flew the flag for Calon Cymru. Harrison’s story of growth is inspirational, we were very happy to support him and look forward to seeing his boxing career progress.