Sharon Holloway

Said the following about Luke Andrews:

“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'.

Luke was contacted by a member of the public who reported that there was a female on the public footbridge over the Station, who appeared to be upset and distressed. Luke did not know what he was faced with but responded immediately and made his way to the footbridge. On arrival he noticed a female who had cuts to her arms and was on the wrong side of the footbridge.

The female was non-conversational, but threatened to jump. Luke immediately requested that all trains be put on stop and grabbed hold of the female to prevent her jumping of the bridge. Luke remained with the female and held on to her for over 45 minutes so that she could not jump - holding her until the emergency services arrived. Luke remained calmed and talked to the female to reassure and support her.

Luke played a key role in encouraging the female and talking her to a position of safety. Lukes reassurance and calm approach to the situation and the emotional support he showed the female clearly saved her life. It was evident that Lukes actions saved her life and although the female was clearly distressed Luke's action did not go unnoticed by her. She clearly trusted Luke in the short space of time he had contact with her - she would not go in the ambulance unless Luke travelled with her.

Luke’s rapid actions, and the bravery and courage he showed saved her life, and prevented a serious incident that, had it not been for Luke’s actions would have been witnessed by the customers waiting for their trains at the station.“