By Ena Saracevic

Copyright scotsman

Ex-Scotland rugby player Scott Hastings says he returns every week to the bay where his “beautiful, radiant” wife Jenny took her life last year. Jenny Hastings, 60, a mother-of-two, vanished on September 3, 2024 while swimming at Wardie Bay in Edinburgh after a two-decade struggle with mental health. Her body was discovered on September 7 – the couple’s wedding anniversary. “I miss Jenny every day,” Mr Hastings told BBC Breakfast on Monday. “She had this amazing connection with people and probably concentrated on other people’s health rather than her own mental health. “But she was fit and active and wanted people to enjoy life.” Make sure you keep up to date with breaking news from across Scotland by signing up to our free newsletter here. On the day of her disappearance in September 2024, Jenny had been visited by a mental health practitioner after her depression took a turn for the worse. Mr Hastings had arranged to meet her in the afternoon for a swim in the Firth of Forth at her favourite spot in Wardie Bay. But when he realised he couldn’t see her and instead saw her buoyancy aid tethered nearby, he contacted the coastguard for help. Jenny’s body was found five days later. She had lived with depression for 20 years before she died and Scott said there had been several scares before. Jenny disappeared from the couple’s Edinburgh home for 36 hours in March 2017 and walked for miles to the Pentland Hills, eventually getting help at a police station. “When she was well, she was radiant and beautiful and outgoing,” he said. “But to see somebody suffer poor mental health was a challenge.” Returning to Wardie Bay has become a weekly ritual and allows Scott space to reflect on the couple’s 45 years together. “The fact that we swim where she went for her final swim, it’s very reflective and resonant,” he said. “I’m not disguising the fact that it’s tough sometimes. “It’s been good for me to almost carry on that legacy (since) she so enjoyed her swimming and exercise.” Mr Hastings previously told BBC Radio Scotland his wife had suffered from post-natal depression after the birth of their second child, and also struggled with anorexia, bulimia and body image, but swimming often helped her. He said: “Cold water therapy was a place where she could escape to and it was a place of healing, but it was also a place where she could exit, and we’ve had many sort of scares over many years. “She suffered for well over 20 years, and she just got herself into a headspace and decided that was the best option, despite having had visits from doctors within 40 hours, and a mental health practitioner had visited literally hours before, but the trickery of the mind is so difficult.” Now, just over a year after Jenny died, Mr Hastings’s former Edinburgh Rugby teammate Iain Sinclair is taking on a challenge to raise money in her memory. On Monday, he begins his attempt at swimming the 60-mile length of the Caledonian Canal which connects the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. He is the first person to attempt to swim the waterway which cuts across the Highlands. “I think it’s great because it brings wider awareness,” Mr Hastings said. “He’s been an inspiration for me and it’s just taking that legacy forward. “Jenny would’ve loved to have seen Iain doing what he’s doing and would be so proud of him. I can’t wait to get onto the boat to support him.” Part of the money raised will be donated to a mental health charity in memory of Jenny as well as fundraising for money for Crohn’s disease and colitis, following his own serious health issues, and for a heart charity after the sudden death of his close friend Colin Maguire.