'How family tragedy lead me to become first Suicide Prevention Manager in rail'

10 September 2023 , 06:26

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'How family tragedy lead me to become first Suicide Prevention Manager in rail'

The UK's first Suicide Prevention Manager for the rail industry has shared how a family tragedy motivated her to want to help others.

Laura Campbell's personal trauma spurred her to forge a career in family liaison, in which she has supported grieving relatives for years. In recent times, she's been a rock to those who've also lost loved ones following suicide.

Her title - Suicide Prevention Manager - was coined in 2019 by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), the first company in the industry to create such a job role. She and her team have helped thousands of people since, including the homeless and other vulnerable individuals at stations and on trains.

Laura Campbell's personal trauma spurred her onto forge a career in family liaison (Govia Thameslink Railway)

Each year, hundreds of people are saved after Laura, 44, and her colleagues make lifesaving interventions, for which employees are presented with awards.

Speaking to Mirror to mark Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, Laura said: "Helping people is the thing that gets me up every morning... The job was made for me. I was so excited (to see it advertised). I was actually working for Govia Thameslink in a different role but I was drawn to this one and there was no way I wasn't going to get it.

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"It's very much kind of dealing with trauma, I've been helping drivers and people that are affected by suicide, but also helping to kind of educate our teams. So it's, it's really, really interesting role.

Tributes are left beside a railway after a death (Mirror)

"But I also have my personal reasons. My grandmother took her life when my mum was just four, and it had a massive effect on my mum. She never really talked about it when I was growing up, but I was quite young when I found out and it really affected how my mum grew up, I think, and she didn't get any support, and she didn't reach out for any support. So I think we've really moved on and people are talking about things and wanting to help each other nowadays."

Laura, who has two children, was unaware of the family tragedy until she was around eight, by which time her mother Carol had experienced significant grief.

And, growing up, Laura lost close friends to suicide too. She says it has helped shape her passion to help other people feeling hopeless, and those families of people who have taken their lives. She has developed suicide prevention e-learning available to all GTR staff and works with Samaritans to put employees through their one-day course titled "Managing Suicidal Contacts".

Police at the scene of tragedy (Internet Unknown)

Last year alone, there were more than 1,500 incidents of "concerns for welfare" at stations and trains on the GTR network, and nearly 600 "vulnerability at stations" reports, which are of higher risk. Since July 2019, there have been almost 600 lifesaving interventions made by GTR staff. Members of the public are also praised if they can help strangers.

Laura, who lives in Surrey, added: "I think we've seen a massive increase in interventions and I think that's down to the fact that we are training our staff well. I think our staff are equipped with the tools to intervene, and we've seen an increase in our interventions, which I think is mainly due to this kind of confidence and training, and also we celebrate our lifesavers.

"If somebody sees something that they're concerned about, the advice is very much to try and find a member of staff. I would suggest, if they're very concerned, they dial 999.

"If they don't feel comfortable approaching somebody, find a member of staff. If they do feel comfortable just having a chat with someone, that's maybe just looking a little bit vulnerable, I'd say they can't say the wrong thing. It's really simple. It's like the conversations we have every day, like at the coffee shop with 'Can I please have a coffee?' Just going up to somebody and saying 'Is everything okay? Can I help you?' Just hearing somebody's voice can help change your train of thought.

"It may well be that somebody says 'I'm perfectly fine, I'm just on my phone', but you know, it's so much better that people reach out and talk to people rather than just worrying in the background."

Train drivers can also be affected by tragedies in front of them and often, they never return to work. Laura believes the public underestimates the impact suicide can have on staff. Support is in place for train drivers, from the likes of Samaritans and the trauma response management team at GTR, which runs Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern Rail.

Train bursts into flames forcing passengers to run for their lives

Laura continued: "I think there's a bit of a myth that train drivers aren't affected. Sometimes, it means that people don't come back to work. Our trauma team do an awful lot of work with drivers specifically because they are at the forefront. It can be very, very traumatic not just to them but to their families who are you know, seeing them suffer from potentially post-traumatic stress."

Speaking last year, Stephen McPartland, MP for Stevenage, backed GTR's work. He said: "I am proud to be raising awareness of this important issue on World Suicide Prevention Day. With the online training course now available to key partners, it means we can work alongside GTR to look out for vulnerable people on the railway – and beyond – to help save more lives."

World Suicide Prevention Day aims to focus attention on the issue, reduce stigma and raise awareness among organisations, governments, and the public, giving a singular message that suicides are preventable.

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email or head to the to find your nearest branch. You matter.

Bradley Jolly