Boxer Frank Bruno MBE receives the Freedom of the City of London after opening up about overcoming mental health issues

Frank Bruno MBE has received the Freedom of the City of London after opening up about overcoming mental health issues. 

The former professional boxer, 64, gave a candid interview last month where he revealed he was sectioned in the early 2000s after suffering depression and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was sectioned again in 2012.

Frank, who won the World Boxing Council heavyweight title in 1995, said his recovery was tough and doctors wanted him to remain on medication for the rest of his life but this wasn't something he wanted. He instead returned to the gym and focused on boxing, later setting up the Frank Bruno Foundation to provide support to others experiencing mental illness. 

Frank was voted Sports Personality of the Year in both 1989 and 1990 and was awarded Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) that same year. 

Now, the athlete has received the Freedom of the City of London in a ceremony at Mansion House on Thursday.

Frank looked smart for the ceremony, wearing a black suit with a spotted tie as he punched to the camera while holding his award. 

It comes after Bruno gave an explosive interview last month where he opened up on being sectioned and insisted Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield are drugs cheats

Frank began to speak about September 2003, the darkest chapter of his personal life. He had retired from the sport that had defined him, his marriage had broken down, his children had moved out, and his beloved trainer George Francis had taken his own life. His behaviour had become erratic, his family were frightened and, eventually, they made the decision to have him sectioned.

'It was the worst day of my life,' he said. 'It was a very heavy day for me. The ambulance turned up on the driveway with the police cars behind it. 

'There were reporters climbing over the fences to get pictures. Helicopters overhead filming everything. It was very, very embarrassing.'

He was taken under the Mental Health Act to Goodmayes Hospital in Ilford, Essex. He said he had no idea what awaited him and remembers it as being worse than anything he could have imagined.

'It's a weird and a horrible place,' he claimed. 'I didn't like it at all, man. They treated me very, very, very rough. They would go out of their way to try and wind you up or distress you. If you’re in a play group or walking around, they would trigger you. 

'Also, if I was messing around with a football, they would come and take the football away just to make you even more miserable.

Daily Mail reached out to Goodmayes Hospital, who replied: 'We're sorry to hear that this was Mr Bruno's experience of our services. 

'Since his last contact with services at Goodmayes, we have made several improvements to our inpatient environments, therapeutic work with our patients, and a significant investment in recruitment.'

Bruno continued 'It was mentally horrible. They treated me like a slave. They’re all corrupted and get kicks out of mistreating the patients. They should all be sacked. Thinking back to it now reminds me of how crazy it was. 

'They should honestly all be sacked and I’m not just saying that. They are horrible people.'

His room, he claimed, was no bigger than a prison cell. A bed. A blank wall. No TV. On good days, he was allowed an iPod to try to calm him down. The window barely opened. Even going to the toilet had to be supervised.

And then there were the other patients. 'It was like living in hell,' he recalled. 'There were some very sick people I came across.'

When he was discharged three weeks later, he believed the worst was over... but another fight was waiting. He said that once home, he was left to cope largely alone, heavily medicated, and unsure how to rebuild his life.

'When I went back home, they gave me an injection and a bag full of drugs,' he claimed. 'I mean sleepers and all them different things I had to take to be able to live by myself. 

He spoke about the medication not with anger but exhaustion. To come off it, Bruno said he had to prove he could function independently: meaning regular psychiatric evaluations, demonstrating consistent sleep patterns, staying physically active and being closely monitored by his GP and family. He describes it as 'fighting for my own mind back' – a slow, stubborn process that took months.

'They wanted me to be on medication for the rest of my life,' he said. 'Tablets and all sorts too. I had to fight it, to not have to take that medication every day. That's not quality of life. And it's not just one tablet they want you to take, it's a cocktail of drugs.'

Bruno won the medication battle and became his own doctor. His rehabilitation would not be medical but physical. He returned to the only routine he had ever trusted: the gym.

'I am training twice a day even now,' he said. 'I've got myself a personal trainer and I have three bags at home so I am still boxing. I go to the gym every day for an hour of weight circuits and I make sure I run every day. That could be one hour sprinting or running. All different pieces.

'Sometimes I’m up at three o'clock at night and I go for a good run. I still do that now. I then make sure I go for a good stretch in the morning, use the steam room and the sauna. I just look after myself. I invest in my happiness.'