A YOUNG woman from Yate who tried to commit suicide has turned her life around by training for one of the country’s toughest obstacle races Man versus Mountain.

Just four months ago and suffering severe depression and anxiety, 25-year-old Leanne Chew tried to kill herself.

For Leanne, who has Asperger’s, it was a pivotal point when she decided to try to overcome her own personal problems and to focus on doing something positive.

“I had such awful depression,” she said. “I suffer from social anxiety which is a massive thing for me.

“Some days I just don’t want to leave the house. I find it really hard to go into a gym, that for me holds a lot of anxiety.”

Leanne, of Dorset Way, turned to fitness to get her through the most difficult of times.

“Last year I joined a group in Yate called Commandofit which I really enjoyed,” she said.

“When it disbanded I decided to carry on with training myself and I have now lost five stone in weight in one year.”

Having already completed a number of obstacle course races including the Mudnificent Seven, Leanne, a service user ambassador for Bristol Autism Spectrum Service, has set her sights on the Man versus Mountain challenge which will see her scale Mount Snowdon, abseil down the side of a former hospital, sprint a vertical kilometre and complete a daring water slide, exhausting swim and inflatable assault challenge.

“If I can do it anyone can,” said Leanne, who plans to complete every obstacle race in the country in the next 10 years. “It is going to be hard but there is no option of quitting. In my mind I don’t care what time I run as long as I finish.

“I always tell myself run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must but never give up.”

Leanne is one of just 40 women to be taking part in the sold-out race. The determined young lady, who raised £40,000 for charity last year by completing various runs and volunteering schemes, is raising money for Help for Heroes because her dad Ian Chew was in the Army for 22 years and her Commandofit teacher Joe Cottle is an ex-marine.

“I went through horrific depression so for me this is about getting into a positive mental place,” she told the Gazette.

“It is really helping me and I hope to raise awareness of women who have Asperger’s and to tell them never let it stop you from doing or being anything you want.”

To sponsor her visit justgiving.com/Leanne-chew