The Bradford nurse who married practice driver who saved her life

Warning: This text incorporates references to suicide and psychological well being points.

On a summer season afternoon in 2019, nurse Charlotte Lay ready for her evening shift as traditional, however “wasn't feeling fairly proper.”

Shortly afterwards he determined to finish his life close to a practice station in West Yorkshire.

However because of the kindness of the motive force who discovered her in disaster, she didn’t proceed additional.

Three years later they married and had kids.

“I had struggled with my psychological well being since my teenage years and had been out and in of the system ever since,” says Charlotte, now 33.

Her recollections of that day 5 years in the past are “fairly hazy”, however she says she remembers seeing a practice stopping on the tracks the place she was standing, close to Crossflatts station, close to Bradford.

“I keep in mind seeing a person get off the practice and beginning to panic and pondering he was going to scold me,” she remembers.

“He got here as much as me and stated 'hello, my identify is Dave, are you having a foul day?'

“I stated 'yeah, just a bit bit'. He stated 'Okay', we will sit and discuss till we really feel higher.”

Dave, who works for practice operator Northern, remembers getting out of his taxi, “taking a knee” in entrance of Charlotte and introducing himself.

He informed her they’d discuss issues by “till she felt snug sufficient” to get on the practice, the place they may take her to security.

The pair spoke for half an hour, at which level Charlotte, though nonetheless distraught, agreed to get into the taxi. She was taken to Skipton station and left within the care of the police.

The following day Charlotte was determined to seek out the person who had been so form to her and put out a name on a neighborhood Fb group for anybody who labored for Northern to place her in contact.

“I might have understood if he didn't need something to do with me, however I simply needed to say 'thanks' for giving me the time and for treating me like I used to be a human being,” she says.

Her attraction was profitable and after considered one of her colleagues who had seen the attraction gave Charlotte Dave's quantity, she texted him.

Dave, now 47, was equally relieved to listen to from her.

He says he's “by no means had the chance earlier than” to get off the practice and discuss to somebody in disaster.

“I wanted to know she was okay,” he explains. “I contacted the police to attempt to discover out what occurred to him and I simply needed to verify he was protected.

“I felt like I had an obligation to verify she was okay. We had constructed that relationship on the facet of the rink. It was good to have the ability to make that distinction for somebody.”

After Dave texted Charlotte again telling her he was obtainable each time she wanted to speak to somebody, they started exchanging messages each day.

They then met for espresso two months later and the remaining was historical past.

In 2022, the couple, who stay in close by Wilsden, married and Charlotte was 22 weeks pregnant.

However earlier than that, there was yet one more twist in his story.

In July 2020, Dave was identified with testicular most cancers, after seeing his GP for again issues.

He’s satisfied that he would by no means have gone to the physician if it weren't for Charlotte's insistence.

“It's as a result of I'm a man,” he says.

“I had labored 12 or 13 years within the automotive business, engaged on chilly flooring and uncovered to the weather, lifting and carrying foolish issues. I simply put it all the way down to a again downside.

“Charlotte saved saying 'go to the physician'. I stated it was simply me getting older.”

Weeks after his prognosis, Dave was given the all-clear.

Final yr, a marketing consultant at St James's Hospital in Leeds informed him he would not have been alive if he had not been identified when he was.

“Charlotte can say I saved her life, which I actually don't know, however she saved mine too,” Dave says.

The couple says they needed to share their story in hopes that anybody struggling can know that higher instances are simply across the nook.

“Life will get higher,” says Charlotte, now a mom of three. “You simply must be right here to see it.”

Charlotte says it's typically too troublesome for people who find themselves struggling to “attain out” and ask for assist, so she suggests individuals round them “attain out” as an alternative. He continues to obtain ongoing assist for his psychological well being.

She believes that asking somebody in the event that they're okay greater than as soon as can assist them open up.

“We owe it to one another to remain in contact with the individuals round us,” he says.

“You don't want to supply life-changing recommendation or say something profound. Merely sitting down with a cup of tea could make all of the distinction.

“Due to what I've been by, I had an obligation to speak about it and I hope it's a subject of dialog.”

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