He kept the caller on the line until an ambulance found him
DJ Iain Lee has kept a suicidal caller on the line for half an hour while emergency services were able to reach him after he revealed he had taken an overdose.
The man, only known as ‘Chris’, called into the former I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here contestant’s TalkRadio showon Wednesday night.
After ‘Chris’ said that he had taken a dangerous cocktail of drugs, Lee held him on the line until an ambulance was able to reach him.
The caller said that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and was near a nightclub in Plymouth. He was nearly 60, and had listened to Lee’s show for around a year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r1jx9dNjaU
At one point, he told the DJ “I do want to die, Iain.”
Lee replied: “Shut up, man, I know you want to die, brother, but I love you. I love you. You may want to die, but we can talk about that tomorrow.”
https://twitter.com/iainlee/status/1075546008946466816
“Tonight we took a call from a man who had taken an overdose,” Lee tweeted on Thursday. “He was lying in a street in Plymouth, dying. We managed to keep him online, get a description of what he looked like and was wearing, work out where he was and send an ambulance and police to him.”
“Long periods of silence where I thought he’d died.”
“Fuck, that was intense and upsetting. Thanks for your kind words. I really hope he makes it.”
Iain Lee has been very open about his own mental issues on his radio show and on podcasts.
The Samaritans can be contacted 24 hours a day on 116 123 (UK) / 116 123 (ROI).
