Mark messham

Said the following about Samantha Rooke:

“Station retailer Sam Rooke was working her shift at the station and unfortunately had to deal with the aftermath of an incident where a distressed passenger had committed suicide at her station. She helped the customers on the platform who had witnessed this and assisted the on-call staff who arrived later to provide onward travel for customers from this sad event.

Sam identified a situation again at the station, where a young lady was extremely upset and anxious outside the front of the station self-harming on glass that she had broken in a crisis moment. Not wanting this situation to escalate and result in the type of event she had previously witnessed at the station.

Sam intervened offering one-to-one support with this lady and they discussed all the different options for help for this distressed person. Sam remained with this person supporting and offering compassion until the emergency services arrived.

These events influenced Sam in a way that she wanted to improve the way that she could help any person in a state of mind where they may think of injuring themselves. So, she attended the Samaritans course learning and building on her experience to do this.

Sam is a genuinely compassionate and helpful person who will always help in any way that she can. These two examples typify her personality and character. So, with this, I nominate her for this award which she unreservedly deserves.“