From attempted suicide and prison to the final of a popular Channel 4 documentary, this Carlisle personal trainer has turned her life around.
Five years ago Tyler Clark served a 12-month prison sentence for a drugs conspiracy offence after being drawn to illegal substances to deal with her longstanding mental health issues.
“I used drugs to deal with my mental health and from 13 it was pretty horrendous,” said Tyler, who is now 27.
“When I was 17 I tried to commit suicide. I self-harmed at 14. I did everything I could to rebel because I felt incredibly lost.
“I didn’t know who I was at that time.”
Tyler said she has been struggling with her mental health for the last decade.
Prison life
After being sucked into the world of drugs she soon was pulled into committing crimes and she was jailed in 2016. She was released after 12 months due to good behaviour.
Modern-day prisons are often described by some as a soft touch, with question marks raised about the use of TVs and games consoles by inmates.
But the reality for Tyler was very different.
“That definitely wasn’t the case for me,” she said.
“I had a TV, a toilet and a bed, that is it. It wasn’t much.
“It wasn’t nice at all. For me the biggest challenge was spending so much time alone, I’d never spent so much time alone.
“I’ve always been surrounded by people and being away from my two boys and my family was really difficult to cope with.
“Each day seemed long because there is nothing to keep your mind occupied with.”
The impact of being confined to a cell for 23 hours each day exacerbated Tyler’s mental health problems.
“I had suicidal thoughts in prison,” she said.
“I felt like I couldn’t carry on. I felt like rock bottom. I felt very guilty about what I put my family through and my boys.
“That happening, and the feeling of that made me think I am never going back to that point and that things could only go up from that point.
“If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t be the woman I am today. I believe everything happens for a reason and if I didn’t go to prison, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Moving forward after prison
The prison sentence flicked a switch in Tyler’s consciousness.
“I had to make the decision that I was going to change. I walked out of prison and I said I would never make a mistake like that again,” she said.
“When you come to a realisation like that, you can turn your life around. When you are at rock bottom, the only way is up.
“The day the police stopped me it was almost like my mind realised what I had done.”
Tyler wasn’t always into fitness
“If you asked me five or six years ago about going to the gym I would have laughed,” she said.
“I was really unfit, I weighed 16 stone and I had diabetes.
“I was really unhealthy. I had to hit a turning point when it became clear I was putting my health at risk.”
Far from a conventional route, the bodybuilder actually found her passion for fitness in prison.
“You have 23 hours in a cell and the only physical exercise you can do is if you go to the gym.”
SAS Who Dares Wins
After battling crippling mental health problems and a 12-month prison sentence, Tyler – who runs Tyler Clark Coaching based in Carlisle – decided to apply for the popular documentary series SAS Who Dares Wins last March.
The Channel 4 show is the ultimate test of physical and mental endurance, with recruits being put through a series of gruelling challenges.
“You have to deal with deprivation and hunger and you need to be prepared to eat just an apple a day,” Tyler said.
“Seven days in I felt my body give up on me and it put my mental strength to the limit.”
There is one clear moment that was the most challenging for Tyler.
“It was the interrogation for sure,” she said.
“I have never felt so vulnerable in my life. It was a real test of my mental strength.
“In 24 hours all I’d eaten was an apple and I had 28 hours of interrogation.”
Resistance to interrogation
Resistance to interrogation is a key part of the recruitment process for aspiring Special Air Service forces in the British Army.
“You are constantly being put in stress positions and for the full time you have a bag over your head,” said Tyler.
Recruits are given a cover story and must avoid revealing they are a member of the military.
“I spent quite a few hours locked in a dungeon chained and freezing cold. I had cold water poured over me,” said Tyler.
“That point for me was when I felt most vulnerable. I can’t explain how that felt. I felt completely worthless.
“This is when I realised who I am and what I am about. I was stripped down to nothing, a broken woman.”
Tyler was one of seven recruits out of 21 who made it to the final stage of the course.
Kieran and Connor were crowned winners of series six of the competition, which concluded last month.
If there is one thing that sticks in the mind of a woman who has been through a lot – despite still being only 27 – is the power of fitness.
“Fitness saved my life,” she said.
