28/10/2025
Nine years ago, Diye broke his leg outside Blackfriars station while walking from the underground to his work. It was raining heavily. It was a bad break. Diye's health and life took a challenging turn.
After the initial recovery, he kept working for as long as he could, to maintain some purpose and to pay off his mum's mortgage.
But after a while it all got too much. Diye could no longer work. Seriously difficult times were to come, but he persevered.
Last year, a close friend of Diye’s mum and regular at the Bromley-by-Bow Centre handed him a flyer for the centre.
“She told me, ‘Look, even if you don’t like it or if you don’t want to go, at least try it out.’”
It was the beginning of something new.
Read the full story here, written by guest writer James McNeill.
https://www.bbbc.org.uk/about-us/our-stories/diye/
Earlier this month was - thank you Diye for sharing your story so that others might feel less alone. And thank you James McNeill for writing a superb article.
Thanks to Mind, Mental Health Foundation and many others for all the work you're doing to ensure mental health gets the attention, support and services it needs.
If you, or someone you know, has been affected by mental health issues, BBC Action Line has put together a list of organisations which can help:
https://lnkd.in/e45Mxjbc
Photos:
1. Diye during mosaic class at the Bromley-by-Bow Centre
2. Diye's mosaic self-portrait
3. A mosaic he made for his sister
4. Silk paintings by Diye
