The Bradford nurse who married the train driver who saved her life

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

He told her they would talk things through “until she felt comfortable enough” to get on the train, where they could take her to safety.

The pair spoke for half an hour, at which point Charlotte, although still distraught, agreed to get into the taxi. She was taken to Skipton station and left in the care of the police.

The next day Charlotte was desperate to find the man who had been so kind to her and put out a call on a local Facebook group for anyone who worked for Northern to put her in touch.

“I would have understood if he didn’t want anything to do with me, but I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for giving me the time and for treating me like I was a human being,” he says.

Her appeal was successful and after one of her colleagues who had seen the appeal gave Charlotte Dave’s number, she texted him.

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

He says he’s “never had the opportunity before” to get off the train and talk to someone in crisis.

“I needed to know she was okay,” he explains. “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 rink. It was nice to be able to make that difference for someone.”