The nominees for each and every category in the RailStaff Awards are real heroes, but only those honoured with the Lifesaver Award can say they have pulled someone back from the brink.
The Lifesaver Award recognises those staff who have used all their skills and training to help save a life on the rails and this year Northern’s Liam King took away the honour.
Conductor Liam reacted quickly to help a female customer who had fallen ill and lost consciousness on a service in September.
He immediately stepped in, checking for a pulse and raised the alarm, asking for the driver to secure a defibrillator. With the assistance of the customers partner, Liam immediately began CPR.
He managed to revive her but she stopped breathing again, so he resumed CPR until the paramedics got onto the train at Middlesbrough station.
Speaking about the incident, Liam said: “I was just glad I could do my bit and she was all right. I knew CPR because I had been on a training course with my old job. It’s one of those things you never think you’re going to have to use but it obviously came in handy.”
Liam was just as modest when he picked up his award: “There were so many other worthy winners tonight and I didn’t think I stood a chance,” he said. “I was so surprised when my name was read out.”
This year, the Lifesaver Award was sponsored by security firm ResponSec Ltd which provides a wide range of services across numerous industries including rail.
Managing Director Daniel Blackwood heaped praise on Liam for his actions and applauded the efforts of the RailStaff Awards to raise awareness of the industry’s champions.
“These awards are great for the staff on the ground. They’re out there everyday, whether that’s on trains, at stations, or doing maintenance. The RailStaff Awards really show that they are appreciated.
“The Lifesaver Award in particular is so close to our heart. During our time working on the railway we’ve dealt with a lot of lifesaving interventions. It’s always a tragedy when someone loses their life on the rails and it has an impact on so many other people.”
“We are so pleased to have sponsored this award.”
Highly Commended
Shaun Charnock, South Western Railway
Rohith Madda, Winston Johnson, and Adam Bashir, ResponSec Ltd
Back next year
We have exciting sponsorship opportunities available for the 2025 awards.
If you’re interested in discussing this further or would like to put forward nominations from your team for future awards, please feel free to contact us by email at [email protected] or call us on 01530 816 440.
You can also find out more and view the upcoming pictures and videos from the evening by visiting our website www.RailStaffAwards.com.
