Catherine Priestman

Said the following about Sarah MacPearson:

“On her way to work one morning, thinking about the job interview she had that day, Sarah saw someone behaving oddly at her local station. She looked around but no one else had noticed. The few people that were there were all more interested in their phones. Wondering if the person had just gone to the wrong platform and wasn't sure how to get to the other side, she approached them to ask. They didn't really give an answer, walked away and still kept looking at where the train would be approaching.

With her #SmallTalksSaveLives training kicking in, she persisted and kept talking to him, talked about anything that she thought would distract him. He started to calm down and then left towards the car park where she lost him. Being at an unmanned station but wanting someone to keep an eye on it, she got on her train and told the train manager about what had happened. She also contacted the BTP to alert them.

Following on from that day she put herself forward for Mental Health and Wellbeing First Aider Training, so she’d be better prepared in case that situation happened again. She’s also organised and attended Managing Suicidal Contacts training through the Samaritans for the Health and Wellbeing Champions across Network Rail’s Capacity Planning Team. This was delivered on 24 August. That went so well that she’s now looking at how that can be rolled out further across the Network Rail System Operator function.“