Trigger warning - this article discusses mental health and suicidal thoughts.

A plumber from Burnley has launched a heartfelt appeal to find the three young men who prevented his suicide more than a decade ago.

James Anderson, who runs Depher CIC, fixes elderly and vulnerable people’s boilers for free and has been hailed as a ‘hero’ plumber for his community work.

In a video he posted on the Depher Twitter page, James shared a heart-breaking story about his suicide attempt in 2010 which was stopped by three young men who came to his aid.

James was inspired to share his story after watching Adam Lambert perform his rendition of Duran Duran’s ‘Ordinary World’ on ITV singing show Starstruck over the weekend.

The lyrics, ‘Where is my friend when I need you most?’ resonated with James as he explained his best friend wasn’t there for him at the hospital after his suicide attempt.

This memory moved James to want to find the three men who saved his life that morning. In the video, James said: “In 2010, I did very stupid things because I didn’t want to live, I wanted to end my life. It was a very hard time for me back then.

"I felt bullied, intimated and trapped, I couldn’t see a way out and I thought that ending my life was the only answer to the problems I was facing. I was so scared."

James explains that he parked his van up at Black Hill in the Ribble Valley, carried out his suicide attempt and fell asleep before three young lads woke him up in the early hours of the morning.

He said: "Just before they woke me up I do remember seeing something like a bright light, I don’t know what it was so I woke up and it scared me.

“I got out the van... and I went home and these three young lads gave the registration plate to the police who then found out where I lived. They came to my house and they sat down with me and spoke to me and asked if I was okay and I said I wasn’t.

“I agreed with the police that I would go see somebody, it took me a couple of days to go to the doctors and explain to the doctors what had gone on and I put myself into hospital for two weeks in the psychiatric ward where I was found to be seriously depressed and the doctor helped me and saved me.

“I need to find these three young men, I need to find out who they are because they saved my life.

"If it wasn’t for those three doing that, I wouldn’t be sitting here now and I need to let them know that I’m forever grateful…2010, Black Hill in Clitheroe, three young men saved the life of a plumber in a red van.

“Please help me find them, I need to thank them.”

READ MORE: Hollywood star Hugh Grant donates another £10K to Burnley charity Depher 

Depher CIC is a community interest company set up by James in 2017 after he visited a pensioner who had been ripped off by a boiler engineer.

Now James is committed to helping vulnerable people across Burnley, East Lancashire and the rest of the UK and hopes to soon have a Depher employee in every town and city in the country.

If you feel you are in a mental health crisis or emergency and may be in danger of causing harm to yourself or others then please contact your GP, the Samaritans on 116 123 or attend A&E.