One summer afternoon in 2019, the nurse Charlotte Lay He prepared as always for his night shift, although he did not feel “quite well.” In a short period of time, decided to end his life near a West Yorkshire train stationa county in the north of England. But, thanks to the kindness of the train driver who found her in crisis, she didn’t. Three years later, They got married and had children..
Charlotte, now 33, told the BBC what suffered mental health problems since his adolescence. Her memories of that day five years ago are “quite blurry,” but she remembers seeing a train stopping on the tracks where she was, near the station.
“I remember seeing a man getting off the train and I started to get scared and thinking he was going to scold me,” she says. “He came up to me and said ‘hi, my name is Dave, are you having a bad day?’ I said, ‘yes, just a little bit.’ He continued ‘it’s okay, we can sit and talk until you feel better.’”
Dave, who works for the Northern Railway Company, remembers that He came out of his cabin, “knelt” in front of Charlotte and introduced himself.. He told her they would talk until she felt “comfortable enough” to get on the train, where they could get her to safety. They talked for half an hour and Charlotte, still distraught, agreed to go up. They took her to another station and left her in the care of the Police..
The next day, Charlotte She was desperate to find the man who had been so kind to her. and left a message in a local Facebook group so someone who worked for Northern could put her in touch.
Charlotte says she and Dave wanted to share their story to show people who are having a hard time that “life can get better.”Charlotte y Dave Lay
“I would have understood if he didn’t want to know anything about me, but I just wanted to thank him for taking his time and treating me like a human being,” he explains. His request was successful and, after one of Dave’s colleagues who had seen the message gave him his number, Charlotte texted him..
Dave, now 47, was equally relieved to hear from her. He tells that “I had never had the opportunity before” to get off the train and talk to someone in crisis. “I needed to know he was okay,” he explains. “I contacted the police to find out what had happened to him and wanted to make sure he was okay. I felt like I had a duty to make sure he was okay. We had established that relationship on the side of the tracks. It was nice to be able to help someone.”.
After Dave responded to Charlotte’s message telling her that he was available whenever she needed to talk to someone, they began exchanging daily messages. Two months later they met for coffee and the rest is history.
In 2022, the couple married, with Charlotte 22 weeks pregnant. But, before that, there was one more twist in the story.
In July 2020, Dave was diagnosed with testicular cancerafter he went to his family doctor with back discomfort. He believes he would never have gone to the doctor if it hadn’t been for Charlotte’s insistence. “It’s because I’m a man,” he says.
In 2020, Dave was diagnosed with testicular cancer.Getty Images
“I have been in the automotive sector for 12 or 13 years, working on cold floors and outdoors, lifting and carrying absurd things. I blamed it on my bad back. Charlotte told me to go to the doctor. I said it was because I was getting old.” Weeks after diagnosis, Dave was discharged from the hospital.
Last year, a specialist told him that he would not have survived if he had not been diagnosed with the disease when he was. “Charlotte can say that I saved her life, which I don’t know, but she saved my life too”, dice Dave.
The couple says that I wanted to share his story in the hope that anyone who is having a hard time knows that better times may be just around the corner.
The couple takes credit for saving each other’s lives.Charlotte y Dave Lay
“Life gets better,” says Charlotte, now a mother of three. “You just have to be here to see it.” He states that it is often too complicated for people with difficulties to “leave the house” and ask for help, so he suggests that people around him “come closer.” She continues to receive ongoing support for her mental health.
You think asking someone if they’re okay more than once can help them open up.. “We owe it to each other to be aware of the people around us,” he says. “There is no need to give life-changing advice or say anything profound. Just sitting down with a cup of coffee can make all the difference. Because of what I went through, I had a duty to talk about it and I hope it helps start a conversation.”
*By David Spereall
BBC Mundo
