Depression is an invisible condition affecting one in four of us in the country every year.

For John Nice, life after his mother died was so hard he wanted to take his own life.

But thanks to a strong support network, he was able to start a new life in what he calls normality.

He is encouraging people with depression to speak out now, as he is living proof there is light in the darkest of places.

AT 66 years old John Nice wanted to end his life.

He refused to eat, refused to get out of bed, and would not open up about his depression.

For him, it was the end and there was no coming back from the dark place he found himself in.

It was thanks to a care home in Lexden and his dear friends that John is alive and well today, and able to tell of his inspirational recovery.

John, now 67, had spent his whole life living with his mother, Gwen, in Rowhedge. He has never been married or found himself in a serious relationship.

Sadly Gwen died due to a clot in her lung in May 2014, aged 91. John had looked after her until the very end.

After her death, he thought he was coping well, but he was wrong.

“We went for weekends in Maldon and Sudbury, she was a very easy person to please,” John said.

“She didn’t expect much but she gave a lot.”

John’s friends tried their best to take his mind off his loss but by Christmas it became too much.

He said: “My friends were worried about me and got me involved in a quiz group which I really enjoyed.

“It was around Christmas time when the depression really kicked in. We had never made a fuss about Christmas but it was a special time. I felt sad that my mum wasn’t there.”

By March, John was having suicidal thoughts and said he had tried numerous times to jump into a river, leaving notes behind for his nephew Simon.

“I had put on a heavy weighted coat, walked to the door but I just couldn’t do it,” John said.

By August, John had decided he could not go on.

“I didn’t want to live any more, I just didn’t eat and took to my bed. I was signed off work as a storeman in September as I realised I couldn’t go on any more. “My nephew came up one weekend and found me, he wanted me to get seen but I refused to go to hospital.

“They had to get the police involved to section me, I wasn’t very pleased at the time but thank goodness they did. It just wasn’t me at all.”

John’s depression had not just scarred him mentally, he had also caused considerable damage to his body by not eating or moving from his bed.

In October, he spent two weeks in the Lakes mental health hospi - tal in Colchester. He remembers nothing of his time there.

John was then transferred to Colchester General Hospital but was not prepared for what he heard.

“They told me I had kidney failure from not eating and that I needed my leg amputated because I had got gangrene from staying in bed,” he said.

“I refused amputation, I just felt sheer horror when they told me.

“I was showing no response at all and was not taking any tablets, I just threw them out of the window.”

After his reluctance to have the operation, the hospital moved him on to Cheviot Nursing Home in Lexden.

Remarkably ,thanks to the care he received there and the support of his friends, his legs started to heal and the depression lifted.

He said: “When you knock on death’s door and they do not answer, you get a new perspective on life”.

John has even had an offer accepted on a flat in Salter Court, a retirement complex, and expects to move in within the next few weeks.

He is looking forward to taking part in the scheduled activities there, leading an independent life in what he calls normality. “I never realised how well I had done, I’m now walking again as I hadn’t been able to walk since October. I was called the man who beat the odds,” he said.

“I know these places cost a lot but they are worth every penny.

“I started feeling like myself and I am going shopping, I have totally transformed.

“If you are depressed you should talk to people and tell them exactly how you feel, as that’s what I didn’t do. I let that person take over.

“I just couldn’t have done it without my friends. I owe my life to my nephew Simon and his wife Dawn, I was also helped by my cousin, Roger, and his wife, Ann, and all my friends from Concurrent Technologies.”

John lost his toes on his left foot in February as a result of the gangrene, but he doesn’t care. He is just grateful he hasn’t lost his life.