SNOOKER star Graeme Dott's wife has spoken for the first time of how she helped him win his battle against depression.

"Pocket Dynamo" Dott, 33, credits childhood sweetheart Elaine, 28, for bringing him back from the depths of despair.

But she had feared their fairytale life was gone forever as he retreated into himself following the death of her dad - his long-time manager Alex Lambie - in 2006.

Weeks later, Elaine had a cancer scare and miscarried, adding to the couple's torment.

And last night, Elaine revealed how the triple blow turned Graeme into a shadow of the man she had fallen in love with.

She said: "It was a dark time for us. It was as if I was an outsider and I was looking in and our fairytale life was crumbling. I just felt it was slipping away from us.

"We were struggling as a couple. There was something wrong with him but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Someone who was usually so happy and outgoing had turned into someone withdrawn."

Graeme would not bother to eat, dress, shower or shave and he would sit staring at the TV, lost in a trance.

Elaine recalls him watching five hours of television and not being able to recall one thing that he had seen.

She said: "He just let himself go. He had no interest in anything, not even snooker. It was soul-destroying."

Graeme was no longer the attentive husband who would surprise his wife with flowers and cuddle her on the couch as they watched a DVD.

Elaine said: "I felt it must be me, but it wasn't. Graeme was ill, in the advanced stages of depression, but I hadn't really put a name on it."

It wasn't until they put a wreath down together on Alex's grave at Christmas 2007 - a year after his death - that Graeme cried for the first time over the death of his dear friend and manager.

Elaine recalled: "That was the first time I had seen him showing emotion towards losing my dad. He just let go and I think that was healthy.

"It was that day I said that he had to go and see the doctor and get better."

Graeme went to see their GP and he spent an hour talking to her, baring his soul and taking his first steps on the road to recovery.

Elaine admits she would have done anything rather than give up on her man, even at the lowest ebb of his illness.

She said: "I love Graeme with all my heart. He is my soulmate. I would never, ever have abandoned him."

Elaine first met Graeme through her dad, a snooker club owner from Larkhall, Lanarkshire, who spotted Graeme's talent early and signed him as a junior.

She started dating Graeme when she was 16 and they married six years later, much to the delight of Alex.

Elaine said: "I had a crush on Graeme from when I was about 12. It was like a fairytale when we married because we had been childhood sweethearts.

"My dad couldn't have been happier.

"He loved him like a son. He could see Graeme would look after me, he didn't drink, didn't smoke and he was just decent man."

In those days, there was no sign of the depression that would later hit Graeme so hard. His career seemed unstoppable, promotional work was plentiful and the couple were delighted when they started their family with little Lewis in 2004.

But in January 2006, Alex was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer.

Elaine, who was only 20 when her mum May died of cancer, said: "It was heartbreaking. He had a five per cent chance of survival and it was bleak. Graeme was gutted. They had a phenomenal relationship."

It is remarkable that Alex's illness was hanging over Graeme when he won the World Championship in Sheffield in May 2006.

Alex watched the early matches from a hospital bed but made it to the final to see Graeme's triumph.

With the winning ball, Elaine and Alex ran to Graeme and, as the crowd cheered, the three of them held each other.

Elaine said: "We just cuddled. It was a truly special moment and we will always have it in our memories and in our hearts.

"I believe my dad was meant to stay alive long enough to see him winning."

In December, Alex died and Elaine had to break the news over the phone to Graeme, who was playing in a tournament.

Although he kept up a facade for heartbroken Elaine, Graeme was falling to pieces inside.

Without his mentor, he started to lose interest in the game and he suffered 15 defeats in a row.

Elaine said: "I knew something wasn't right but I just didn't know how to fix it. He was so down after losing a match. It wasn't the wee huff he used to have, this was different.

"He didn't want to get up in the morning, he didn't want to practise. He didn't even want to eat.

"Incredibly, Elaine discovered she was pregnant only a week after the loss of her father and although it wasn't planned, it was at last some good news.

But when Elaine went for her first scan, doctors discovered cysts on her ovaries they feared were potentially cancerous.

She said: "I was really scared. I told Graeme and he cried. He talked then about giving up snooker to be with me. I felt he was a tower of strength."

When the tests came back negative, the couple were relieved, but the week after the all-clear, Elaine miscarried and Graeme descended further into his crippling depression.

After Graeme finally saw the doctor, he was placed on medication and it helped enormously, allowing him to embrace life again with a new vigour.

Then in 2008, at the Roewe Shanghai Masters, just as he was regaining his form, he broke his wrist during a friendly football kickabout with other players.

But although Graeme had low points, this time he was more open with Elaine.

She said: "I felt like we had turned a corner. Every emotion that we had been through, I felt had made us stronger. We had rekindled our relationship and we now knew what marriage was really about."

Graeme came off medication in May 2008 and he has worked hard to get back to the top of his game, culminating in his runners-up place in last month's world championship.

The couple had a daughter, Lucy, in November 2008.

Elaine said: "To see him at the final was amazing. I feel that he is better than ever, as a player, as a father and as a husband.

"I would just say to other people going through what we went through to try and stay positive because there is light at the end of the tunnel. Talk, seek help and you can come through it."