A 33-year-old woman who tried to take her own life by sitting in front of a train tells of her surprising survival, which is due to a train driver, who later became her husband.
Charlotte Lay, a mother of three, suffers from complex mental health issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, which, one day in 2019, led her to feel like there was no way out.
One morning, on her way to the Yorkshire hospital where she worked as a nurse, she “impulsively” decided to jump from the train platform onto the tracks and “sat there, waiting.”
A train slowly approached and stopped in front of Mrs. Lay. The driver, Dave Lay, got out of his taxi and knelt in front of her, introducing himself.
He told her they would talk things out “until she felt comfortable enough” to get on the train with him.
The pair talked for half an hour, at which point Lay agreed to board the train.
He dropped her off at Skipton station, where she was left in the care of the police.
Mr Lay had never received specialist training in mental health. He said he simply “said all the things he wished he had said” to other people who committed suicide.
Charlotte Lay, 33, a mother of three, made the “impulsive” decision to stand on the train tracks on her way to her job as an NHS nurse.
The next day she looked him up on Facebook to thank him for the kindness he showed in her moment of crisis at Crossflatts station in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
Mr Lay responded, saying he was available when she needed to talk to someone. After this initial contact, they began exchanging messages daily.
This continued for two months until the couple finally agreed to meet for coffee.
The rest is history: Three years later they married while Lay was 22 weeks pregnant with their first child.
She said: ‘The conversation (on the train tracks), as far as I can remember, was just about mundane things and about our lives, but it was enough to break the crisis.
‘Life was no longer so heavy for me. The next day I set out to find the man who had been so kind to me.
‘Through Facebook and some of his colleagues I found him. Now he is my husband.
But on that day in 2019, her future husband, Northern train driver Dave Lay, 47, slowed down and got out to talk to her for half an hour. They later married when Lay was 22 weeks pregnant with their first child.
Recalling the day of his suicide attempt, he said: “I don’t know exactly what triggered it, but it was an impulsive decision.”
“I had my uniform on and was fully prepared to work, but something didn’t feel right.
‘When I got off the train I just sat on the platform. The driver asked me if I was okay and I said yes.
“Sensing something was wrong, he asked me again if I was sure and I said yes and the train moved away.” That’s when he decided to go down to the tracks.
She said: “I hope that by sharing my story people realize that, although it would be ideal if we all had specialist training in dealing with a mental health crisis, we are all capable of helping by being empathetic and present.”
‘I still get support for my mental health and I think I always will.
‘But I’m so grateful to Dave for stopping by that day and being so patient and understanding.
“I would have understood if he didn’t want to hear from me, but I just wanted to thank him for giving me the time and for treating me like I was a human being.”
Mr Lay was equally relieved to hear from her as he had “never before had the opportunity” to get off the train and talk to someone in crisis.
He told the BBC: “I needed to know she was okay.” I contacted the police to try to find out what happened to him and I just wanted to make sure he was safe.
“I felt like I had a duty to make sure she was okay. We had built that relationship on the side of the track. “It was nice to be able to make that difference for someone.”