A commendable rail worker, Rizwan Javed, has been honoured with an MBE for his heroic actions in preventing 29 individuals from ending their lives, making him one of the many unsung heroes acknowledged in the New Year Honours list. Working as a station assistant on the Elizabeth Line in London at the age of 33, Rizwan's life-saving interventions earned him widespread praise.
Having received 29 suicide intervention commendations, Rizwan emphasized the significance of initiating conversations when someone is in crisis. His recognition highlights the importance of addressing mental health challenges and providing support to those in need. The New Year Honours list, recognizing exceptional achievements, has awarded a total of 1,227 individuals this year, with a special focus on those who have demonstrated generosity and altruism towards others.
Here’s Rizwan’s exclusive interview with Asian Voice.
Please tell us about yourself, your background, and your family.
I’m an East London-born, 33-year-old, Duty Customer Experience Manager on the Elizabeth line, based at Paddington Station in London. I’ve been working on the railways for almost a decade and I’m proud to say that I’ve had the opportunity to develop my career. I love the diversity that the railway environment offers, as well as the hustle and bustle of Great Britain’s second busiest station – we have 59.2m entries and exits into our station every year (according to an Office of Rail and Road report in December 2023).
My parents hail from Gujar Khan, a Pakistani village in the Potohar region. I have learned a lot from my parents, watching their selfless approach to life and community has left a lasting impression, and one I hope I champion.
Please tell us about your role on the MTR Elizabeth line. How does it train you to save people?
My current role at Paddington Station is to ensure the safe operation of the railway, to hold a safety critical competency, manage colleagues and provide a world-class customer experience. It’s busy, it’s varied and you never know exactly what your next shift will entail, which is precisely what love about it!
When I joined the railway in 2015, part of my initial training was to attend a Samaritans’ course on how to identify, listen to and support vulnerable people on our railways. I am just one of many railway employees who have attended this course, and between us, we help hundreds of vulnerable people on our railway network every year.
The Samaritans’ course was incredibly useful, and gave me a real insight into the right way to approach a person I thought may need support. The course taught me how to identify vulnerable people, open conversation and take them to a point of safety.
What are some signs of danger that you spot early?
There are lots of signs that you can look out for and most of them are simple, if you take the time to pay attention to the individuals around you. For example look out for:
Facial expression
Body language
If that person is alone
If they are removing their clothing or discarding their belongings
If what they are wearing fits the weather conditions
If a person is on the platform but is continuously missing trains
If you spot any of these concerns, you should gently engage the individual in a conversation. Start with small talk – work up from the weather. Show empathy and open a conversation that will enable you to express an interest in them, as well as ask specific questions to try and assess the intentions of the person. Think, what you would want someone to do if it was your loved one in distress.
You’ve been awarded for saving 29 lives from suicide through your interventions. How will you describe your experience of saving those people?
Working to support vulnerable individuals has been an emotional, but very rewarding journey. Once I have supported any individual, I will ordinarily not see them again. However, a few weeks after one intervention I undertook, the person in question came back to the station and found me. She hugged me and told me that if it hadn’t been for me, she wouldn’t have been here. Being told something like that, to have made that sort of difference, is incredible. I hope that all the people I have supported over the last decade are out in the world living fulfilling and happy lives, they are often in my thoughts.
What has danger and prevention taught you about the ultimate truth of life?
I have learnt to appreciate all the things that we may take for granted in life. I also thank, and pray for, all the people that I have supported, because I am who I am today because of them. I may have changed the course of their lives, but they have shaped mine. They have my gratitude for the impact that they have had on my life.
After my first intervention, I made a promise that I would do whatever it was, in my power to make a difference in someone’s life; and now I’m on a mission to remove the stigma attached to mental health, by inviting people to share their journey, because I believe it will inspire others, and that journey will one day be someone’s coping mechanism. No one should suffer in silence - my aim is for people to be comfortable discussing their mental health, whatever their age or background.
