 Less than six months after leading his team to victory over England , Trott endured a severe mental illness . While visiting his mother on 8 August 1898 , Trott collapsed and lost consciousness . Later , on the train home with his wife , he had another convulsive fit and yet another at 10 pm that evening , in the presence of a doctor . Trott passed in and out of consciousness over the next four weeks , unable to work or even communicate . His supporters raised ₤ 453 to send him for two weeks at a private retreat at Woodend , a small town north @-@ west of Melbourne . The treatment was unsuccessful and Trott continued to suffer from insomnia , memory loss and apathy . 
