Steven Toogood

Said the following about Gary Kimpton:

“Great Western Railway (GWR) is one of the biggest rail franchises in the UK, part of the First Group of companies, operating the Western network since 1996, rebranding ourselves as GWR in 2015. We employ over 6000 people across our network and we carry more than one and a half million customers over two million single journeys on 10,000 services every week. People are at the heart of our business and our ethos is that we are 'greater together'.

Gary was working 2K43 20:03 Avonmouth. As the train approached the station, the driver brought the train to a stand because of a woman next to the running line who looked distressed. The driver then contacted Gary to explain the situation and advise he was going down to talk to the female.

Gary immediately knew who it was. Gary had carried the woman on his train and en-route she was asking about train times and when trains passed through that station. Gary thought this was unusual because most people on the Severn Beach branch are regulars and don't ask for this kind of information.

Gary contacted the signaller in the driving cab to appraise him of the situation and the driver managed to talk the customer into the cab. An ambulance was called (unsure who by but it is expected the signaller did this whilst Gary was on the phone and the driver was speaking to the woman) and the woman was helped into the train by both Gary and the driver.

The driver then resumed his position in the driving cab and Gary looked after the woman in the saloon. She curled up in a ball on one of the seats. However, when she moved, she had blood all over her hands. She had been slicing her hands and wrists whilst she was curled up. Gary acted quickly and gave her some tissues which she pressed against the slash wounds. Very quickly the ambulance and police arrived and the woman was handed into the care of the emergency services.“