Chloe Bellerby started getting panic attacks when she turned 16. She recalled how her emotions boiled over and overwhelmed her. Chloe started cutting herself, binging and purging, and had suicidal thoughts. Her wardrobe at the time cover her marks to hide it from her parents.
Looking back to August of 2016, Bellerby recalls the time she left her house, downed 100 pills, and was rushed to the hospital. This would be the first time she disclosed the mental illness that she suffered with throughout her young life.
"It felt like something switched in my brain, and it was a downward spiral from there," said Bellerby.
"I didn't see a purpose or a reason to be alive anymore. I didn't want to socialize or play sports. I became a shell of a person."
Bellerby was diagnosed with depression, but refused future counseling. She was already planning a second suicide
attempt. But Ricky O'Sullivan, the coordinator of sport studies at Rossett School in Harrogate, where Chloe lived, wouldn't let her walk away from her life again. He told Bellerby she wasn't alone.
"She didn't really say anything that day," O'Sullivan recalled in a Zoom call. "I gave her time to go away and think about it. She came back and she stepped up."
Bellerby has become an advocate for mental health awareness both in her native England and at SCCC. She helps other students through the Degree Up program.
"Every single day I still battle, even with suicidal thoughts," Bellerby said. "Knowing I'm helping others gets me through it."
Bellerby makes others aware of mental illness by starting the following:
• launching social media accounts dedicated to sharing her mental health struggle.
• organizing a 205-mile fundraising walk that raised more than 10,000 pounds for MIND, a mental health charity in England and Wales.
• she posts positive messages on social media encouraging others to share their struggles.
Bellerby was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2019, before her soccer season at SCCC. Aside from her family, Bellerby's SCCC soccer team rallied around her. When she returned to the field that fall, she inspired both her teammates and opponents.
Bellerby played that season and was named the coaches' Player of the Year. The team would go on to win the NJCCA Association Region XIX final.
The president of the Student Athletic Council, Bellerby was named SCCC Woman of the Year before graduating last spring. She is planning to transfer to a four-year school to earn a bachelor's degree in psychology. She hopes to continue to play soccer for her new school.