Nick Rush

Said the following about Jordan Cokayne:

“One evening, Freightliner Mentor train driver Jordan Cokayne was approaching the Station. After passing the station he was signalled to a stop at BL1802 as he had informed of a report of a suicidal woman on or near the line at the next bridge which was around the two miles post and to proceed with caution.

The sitting around the area was good but it was still dark, so Jordan limited the speed of the train to around 15mph while travelling towards the bridge with an anticipation to slow down to a crawl as approaching the bridge. As Jordan approached the corner before the bridge, he could see in the cess of the Down Filton Main a small light. He started to slow down and sounded the horn but there was no acknowledgement of his presence or any presence of hi-visibility clothing which alerted Jordan that the person was not a track worker or BTP. The loco Jordan was driving had modified headlights so he could see quite clearly that the person was wearing pyjamas.

Jordan immediately hit the emergency brake plunger while sounding the horn continuously and came to a sharp stop as he approached BL1596 signal. The young girl then started to run toward him in what seemed like an attempt to get in front of him before he came to a stop. He immediately rang Thames Valley Signalling Centre, Stoke Gifford to report the incident and to alert any further traffic approaching.

Jordan was informed that the police were on their way. Once Jordan stopped, he could see her pacing back and forth.

Not wanting to exit the driver's cab and potentially put himself in danger, as he was unaware of the state of the young girl’s distress, Jordan remained in the cab and started talking to her through the window. The young girl kept on repeating herself asking if another train was coming. As Jordan was on the phone with the signaler and Control, she kept walking in the direction towards the Station, so Jordan continued to engage with her to ensure he didn't lose sight of her.

After around 10 minutes of being stopped, Jordan could see blue lights and the police trying to gain access to the railway line, but it seemed they didn't have a key for the gates. Shortly afterwards, she passed out and fell to the ground. During this time, after around another 20 minutes, the Police could still not gain access. Her phone was face up on the ground and Jordan could see that she was on the phone to the 'Suicide Prevention Helpline’, so he picked her phone up and spoke to the lady from the Helpline on the phone to update them on how the young girl was doing. As all this was happening, the young girl started to come around and once again asked when the next train was due.

Joran handed her back her phone so that the lady from suicide prevention could continue to talk to her. After another 5 minutes, the police finally arrived on foot and, realising that Jordan was driving a freight train and not a passenger train, were directed by Jordan to access he had a key to open. The police officers escorted the young girl off the track through the gate, at which point Jordan re-locked the gate once they had vacated.

Jordan deserves recognition for managing this life-threatening incident and keeping calm whilst waiting for the police to arrive. His action in talking to and engaging with the young girl and removing the shoelace from around her neck potentially saved her life.“