Steven Shiel

Said the following about Gary Costello:

“Gary turned up to site on a Saturday night before a possession at a station. He went onto the overbridge to have a glance at the job where he seen a young vulnerable woman in the platforms four foot stopped down awaiting to take her life in a known suicide hotspot. Having left his phone in the car Gary immediately ran lineside on the platform to try get the young lady to safety.

The Station is on a 42 span OLE mast curve roughly 2100m curve and it is impossible to be forewarned of approaching trains in the up and down directions. Gary whilst trying to preserve his own safety and the safety of the lady managed to intervene and drag the lady to safety from the platform and saved her life.

As a programme manager for works delivery, Gary has a challenging role which requires meticulous planning against tight deadlines and so there was little time for praise for his intervention. The focus was on getting trains moving rather than the on the life he had just saved, Also regarding his own wellbeing as still in shock he completed his shift. He told me this story on a train journey whilst discussing line blockages and near misses which we both hope to contribute to eliminate within Network Rail. Not many people knew his story as he didn't feel he warranted any praise for his lifesaving intervention but I feel his quick thinking should be commended and to raise the profile of mental health First Aid and awareness on how to identify and Aid venerable persons on the railway.

Gary deserves this award to be recognised for his life saving intervention whilst preserving network rails core safety values by limiting his own risks to his own safety.“