Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke left a suicide note apologising for the desperate suicide plan he had made in the hours before taking his own life, it was revealed Thursday. The 32-year-old, who was set to travel with the Germany squad to next June's 2010 World Cup in South Africa, flung himself under a busy commuter train at a small town near Hanover on Tuesday evening having suffered from depression.
His broken-hearted widow gave a press conference on Wednesday explaining how her husband had been treated for depression since 2003 and had an acute fear of failure. After losing his place in the Germany team in September after suffering from a stomach infection, Enke sought treatment six weeks ago and his psychologist, Dr Valentin Marksel, revealed details of the goalkeeper's last desperate note.
"In the letter, he apologised for his deliberate concealment of his state of mind over recent days that was necessary in order to be able to put his suicide plan into action," Marksel said. On the day of Enke's suicide, Marksel revealed the Germany star had telephoned his local hospital to cancel a counselling appointment.
"He called off all therapy appointments for the next few weeks, until further notice, because he said he was feeling better." Admitting he was still in shock at the news, Marksel said he had seen no indication Enke was planning his own death. "Unfortunately, we did not succeed in protecting him from suicide," said an emotional Marksel. Germany's friendly international against Chile on Saturday has been called off as a mark of respect and Enke's funeral will be held on Sunday.
A public memorial service will be held at 11:00 am (1000 GMT) in Hanover 96's stadium, which the entire Germany squad will attend, before Enke is buried in private in his home town of Neustadt am Ruebenberge, near Hanover. Enke leaves behind his wife Teresa and 18-month-old daughter Leila, whom the couple adopted in May - three years after their two-year-old daughter Lara died from a heart infection.