I went through a period where I hated my life but now I wouldn’t change it for the world, says Lewis Hamilton’s brother
LEWIS HAMILTON’S brother admits going through a period where “I hated life” — but now “wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Nicolas Hamilton, 32, is the half-brother of Formula One legend and Mercedes ace Lewis.
He lives with a form of cerebral palsy and made history as the first disabled driver in the British Touring Car Championship.
Hamilton will now lift the lid on his incredible racing career in his new memoir Now That I Have Your Attention.
The book also reveals all about how he frittered away thousands on gambling in a six-month binge, leaving him depressed and suicidal.
He was even forced to sell a gift from Lewis, a Mercedes C63, to settle a large tax bill.
And Hamilton has also explained his struggles with his disability, admitting there was a time when he “hated life” because of it.
But after becoming one of the country’s most sought-after motivational speakers, he now wouldn’t “change it for the world.”
Nicolas said: “I went through a period where I hated life. I hated my condition. I didn’t understand why I was the way I was and why I was given my condition and why I couldn’t be like my friends, who were all able bodied.
“But now I wouldn’t change it for the world and I’m so grateful to have it. I try to always play with the cards I’ve dealt in the best way possible.
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“I strive every day to overcome any barrier that comes in front of me. It could be the smallest or the biggest barriers, but I tackle them each the same.
“The only person that can tell me I can’t do things is me.”
Nicolas was born two months premature and spent his first six weeks in intensive care.
He was then diagnosed at 18 months with spastic diplegia, affecting balance and muscle movement his lower body.
Doctors even predicted he would never be able to walk or run.
And Nicolas continued: “I would say I’m a very resilient person. I never take ‘no’ as an answer and I believe that the only person that can tell me I can’t do things is me.
“So regardless of what people say, I make my own decisions and I thrive off negative criticism. If someone told me I couldn’t do something, I’d do my utmost to prove them wrong. “
On life with a disability, Nicolas explained: “I would say with my condition, I’ve been a great problem solver, over the years; always trying to find ways of getting out of situations or overcoming certain obstacles.
“It could be the most difficult of obstacles to the simplest of obstacles such as maybe carrying a bowl of cereal to your desk and not spilling it.
“I think I have many qualities. I don’t like talking about myself, believe it or not, even though I am a speaker, and I have to talk about myself. But I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved, and what I’ve overcome.
“I’m a very solid human. It’s not always been that easy: I’ve had a lot of ups and downs but I think generally I would say resilience is everything for me and I’m proud of what I’ve achieved and hopefully, there’s more to come from me in the future.”
I would say mental health is a trial-and-error situation
Nicolas Hamilton
Reflecting on his mindset, Nicolas added: “Mental health, I believe, is everything. The way I like to think about it is that life is 90 per cent mental and 10 per cent physical. It doesn’t really matter how physically fit you are and how strong you are if you’re not there mentally.
“If you don’t believe in yourself mentally, then I personally believe that you’re never going to achieve your full potential. Now I would say mental health is a trial-and-error situation.
“It’s all about working out what works for you. Sometimes what people tell you would work, sometimes it doesn’t and what works for others doesn’t necessarily work for you personally.
“How I go about to try and build myself mentally is trying to find ways that I know helped me and stay true to my vision, to my desire.
“Also I think what a key thing of overcoming a bit of mental toughness and struggles is going through failure as well. I think failure is also very key. You’ve got to learn how to fail before you can succeed. That is how I feel.
“And so with every failure I have, I feel like it only gets stronger and stronger and my, have I had a lot of failures. And I think that’s sort of what’s made me who I am today.
“But it’s a never-ending journey and with every day that goes past, you learn something new about yourself.”
YOU'RE NOT ALONE
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together,www.headstogether.org.uk
- HUMEN www.wearehumen.org
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans,www.samaritans.org, 116 123