BUFFALO, N.Y. — Many people struggle. Many hide it. There are a variety of reasons why, but a common one is shame. Especially when it comes to mental health troubles. There is a stigma that surrounds it to this day. Enter Mike Billoni.

If you’re a Buffalo Bisons fan, you know his name; if you’re in Buffalo’s philanthropy network, you know his family. He’s writing a new chapter in his life right now, a very personal one. The hope is it will save lives.

Sahlen Field is no stranger to Mike Billoni, and he’s no stranger to the field. He was the general manager and vice president of the Bisons when the team first took the field in 1988.

“And the Bisons win 1-0, and Tom Prince hit a home run to win the game,” Billoni said.

He even has the bat. Billoni tried his hand at little league before entering the front office of a pro sports team. 

“But I couldn’t hit a curveball,” he smiled.

That was until 1992.

“It was the best catch I ever made,” Billoni said.

Billoni caught the helmet he holds in his right hand. That helmet saved his life on September 17, 1992 “when a drunken Canadian customs official hit me from behind in a hit and run,” Billoni recalled.

Billoni underwent surgery for 17 hours. He spent more than a month recovering at ECMC. A skull fracture and countless other injuries eventually healed. But one thing didn't.

“It was a ticking bomb inside of me, and about a year and a half or two years later, it just exploded and I had a near nervous breakdown,” Billoni said.

He stepped away from the Bisons for eight months and went to a psychiatrist.

“And he said 'you have a bipolar disorder,'” Billoni recalled. “And I said, 'OK, what is that?' And he said, 'mental illness.' I didn’t hear another word he said because I’m saying to myself, 'there is no way I am going to tell anyone I have a mental illness.' "

Billoni was given what he calls a "soup of anti-depressants."

“It’s like a dark elevator shaft and you just keep going down, and the last floor is suicide,” Billoni said.

A decade ago, Billoni arrived at that last floor. He drove to the Hamburg exit on the Thruway.

“I took a baseball cap out,” he recalled. “I remember thinking the next semi-trailer coming by, I am throwing it in the road, and God, it’s in your hands.” 

A co-worker pulled up to see if Billoni was having car trouble.

He sits at Sahlen Field today sharing his story. He’s writing a book entitled "The Courage to Fight Back." It will be a three-part series offering hope and inspiration and ending the stigmas surrounding mental health and suicide.

Until the book is tangible, he has some advice. If you know someone diagnosed with a mental illness, he shares this advice:

“Don’t judge, don’t try to be a doctor and tell them they don’t have what they say they have, and be sympathetic,” Billoni said.

If you are dealing with mental illness, or having suicidal thoughts, he says there is hope.

“Don’t feel bad that your, head, your mind, your brain is hurting,” Billoni said.

Billoni says just call — whether it’s Crisis Services, your doctor or any medical professional. He says the more people talk, the quicker the stigma will end. He hopes one day we can all accept a mental health diagnosis the same way we do cancer.

“It’s no different, and it isn’t a life sentence, and it doesn’t mean that they’re ruined,” Billoni said. “I am living proof of that.”

If you or someone you know is struggling, call 988.

Billoni is hoping his book has a September 16 release date. That marks the day before the anniversary of his bike accident, and the final day of National Suicide Prevention Week.