After tragedy saw Dave Thompson lose everything, he hit rock bottom and tried to end his life. He tells how he found salvation in a 57ft canal boat and hit reset, finding a fresh start on the waterways of England
Celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary at the top of Tenerife’s majestic Mount Teide, Dave Thompson and his wife had found their piece of paradise. Dave, 64, says: “Sue turned to me and said, ‘why don’t we move here?’ So in March 2012 we did.” Never driven by money, the couple – who had been treated to the holiday by their children – left their home in Altrincham, Manchester, for the Canary Island with just £50,000 to start a new life.
He reflects: ”We were so happy.” A former Butlins redcoat-turned pub manager, Dave worked as a pub singer, while Sue was a chef. But everything changed when Sue was diagnosed with cancer and died in April 2013, aged 50, only about a month after it was detected. Doctors found the disease in her lungs, but all over her body, so they didn’t specify what type of cancer it was.
READ MORE: ‘Butcher surgeon Ian Paterson gave me needless mastectomy but worst was yet to come’
Dave says: “Looking back, I think she knew she had cancer on Mount Teide. And since her death, doctors have given me an inkling of this too. I think she might have already chosen that she didn’t want to go through all the chemotherapy and stuff like that – she just wanted to enjoy the time she had left. And we really did, we had a wonderful year. Then, just like that, she was gone.
“It had been a dream come true to live in Tenerife, but in one fell swoop I lost everything – the love of my life and our dream together.” Returning to the UK with nothing but a suitcase, an inflatable kayak and a bicycle, Dave hit rock bottom – sofa surfing with friends and family, as he had nowhere to live.
He says: “That kind of loss hits you like a truck. It renders you paralysed, speechless. I was backwards and forwards every few months, with no place I could call home. That was really hard. I felt like I had nothing left to live for.”
Seeing no way out of his despair, Dave attempted suicide. He says: “Without Sue I was bereft. I suppose the pain became too much. I took an overdose and woke up in Wythenshaw Hospital. But my story didn’t end there – and for that I am truly grateful. I’ve had a second chance on the waterways of England.”
Dave, who has two “beautiful” grown up children, Ben, 38, and Laura, 36, and two grandchildren, Ruby, 17, and Forest, 5, found salvation in the form of a 57ft narrowboat, at a cost of £32,000, paid for by his brother. He named the boat Inspired By Nature. He says: “I finally had somewhere I could call home. It was safety, it was security, it was a port in a storm. I could breathe out for the first time in years.”
And Dave, who has been a ‘continuous cruiser’ for the last eight years – travelling up and down the country’s picturesque waterways, often around the Cheshire area – features in tonight’s episode of Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild at 9pm on 5. The granddad tells Ben how he never stays for more than two weeks in one place, spending just £90 on propane gas a year. His electricity is solar powered.
Cruising means he also avoids paying mooring fees, but he spends £1,500 a year on a Canal & River Trust (CRT) boat licence, to operate on inland waterways. His YouTube channel, called Inspired by Nature, where – a keen cameraman, he documents his daily life and subscribers pay for his content – makes him a meagre living.
Speaking on a very cold day, when his boat is frozen in by ice, he continues: “I’m stuck here – who knows for how long? There are no other boaters around. There’s hardly anybody walking along the towpath. It feels like the wild.
“This narrowboat has saved my life. I’ve rebuilt my home – and myself – piece by piece. I wouldn’t have been able to afford a flat and the bills that would have come with it. This is perfect for me. Although I do worry if the engine breaks. It’ll be expensive – £7-8000 – money I don’t have.”
Living without a watch, Dave just goes with the flow. He says: “I don’t have to get up for work. There’s nothing in the diary, I don’t look at the time. I can sit, I can play my guitar, I can have a cup of tea, I can look around me at nature. I take my camera out and capture wildlife in the stillness, like rare kingfishers. When it rains I sit on the roof and listen to the sound of the rain on my umbrella. It’s therapeutic. I go out in the rain and lie under trees in the woods too.”
Being completely immersed in nature has helped Dave cope with his grief. He says. “It’s been 12 years now and I think of Sue often – even now. “But there are so many stories on these canals, and I’ve made so many friends. I move constantly, but come back to favourite mooring spots – ones I like because of the wonderful people I’ve met.
“It’s a cheap way to live, so people often end up on a narrowboat after divorce or loss. “And there’s a whole generation of younger people here now too, who can’t afford to get on the property ladder.” And with the canal and nature to keep him company, he doesn’t get lonely.
He says: “I love being on my own, having that solitude and space. But I was married for 26 years and we did everything together, me and Sue. I miss waking up in the morning with somebody next to me in my bed. It would be nice to share a cup of tea with someone too when there’s a blizzard outside.
“But I wouldn’t want to leave my boat, I love this lifestyle. I’ve found the person I was meant to be. I can be truly myself on the waterways. I have my memories of Sue, and I’ll treasure them forever. But sometimes we have to move on. It doesn’t do us any good to dwell on the past. I’ve come a long way and I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved. I can honestly say that I am happy again, content. I wake up every morning grateful for where I am.”
At peace and pleased with his progress since his bereavement, he adds: “I think Sue would be proud of me if she could see me. She’d say, ‘who is this positive man? You’ve changed.’And yes, I have, but for the better. This boat, and the nature around it, has changed me irrevocably – and saved my life in the process.”
*Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild continues Thursday on 5 at 9pm and is then on catch up. You can view Dave’s YouTube channel Inspired by Nature here
READ MORE: Locals ‘in tears’ as family trio save historical Stockport pub from ruin
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
