An Elizabeth line station assistant who has saved 29 people at risk of ending their lives at the railway has been made an MBE in the New Year Honours list.
Rizwan Javed has helped to save each life by being alert and approaching vulnerable individuals in difficult situations.
He has received 29 suicide intervention commendations and numerous other awards in recognition of his work and has now been honoured for his services to vulnerable people.
The 33-year-old has said the interventions have an “emotional impact” on him.
He told the PA news agency: "It is emotional because a lot of the individuals have been older than myself, some youngsters as well.
"I grew up going through various challenges and I think if we're all honest we all wake up in the morning and we're fighting a battle of some sort. It's how we deal with it.
"So you do have an emotional impact but the way I dealt with it is to spread awareness on a wider scale within my family.
"Coming from an Asian background, they're not really educated about mental health, if you're going through mental health issues your mother (will) probably give you a paracetamol and say you'll be OK in the morning.”
The station assistant said getting people to talk about mental health has been a “coping mechanism”.
Mr Javed first attended a Samaritans training course around 10 years ago when he joined the railway and learnt what sorts of conversations to have with vulnerable people and how to take them to a point of safety.
Two days after completing the training course he used his newly learnt skills during a scenario at a London station.
He said: “I've had 29 interventions since then and spread awareness on national television as well, also on social media now I've created an account on Instagram and TikTok where I will be sharing my story and also getting people to share their story to maybe inspire other people that are going through similar situations.
"So I feel like this MBE award has given me the confidence to take it a step further on a wider scale."
Mr Javed said he received a letter with the news about his MBE when he was asleep and his mother brought it to him saying “you've got an important letter you need to open it”.
For mental health support, call the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.
