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Radio DJ Iain Lee credited with helping to save suicidal man's life live on air

Iain Lee has been credited with helping to save a suicidal man’s life after keeping him talking live on air [Photo: Getty]
Iain Lee has been credited with helping to save a suicidal man’s life after keeping him talking live on air [Photo: Getty]

Radio DJ Iain Lee has been praised for helping to save a suicidal man’s life by keeping him talking on the phone for 30 minutes until an ambulance arrived.

The caller, identified only as Chris, called during Lee’s talkRADIO slot on Wednesday and revealed he had taken an overdose.

He went on to say that he was almost 59 and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and as Lee explained was “lying in a street in Plymouth, dying.”

“I don’t want to die, Iain” Chris reportedly said.

While Lee kept the man talking, getting him to describe his location and what he was wearing, his producer contacted the emergency services.

At several points during the call the man went silent causing Lee to become increasingly worried about his safety.

Sounding clearly relieved when Chris returned to the line during one tense moment, Lee said: “Yes, brother. The whole country is punching the air. We lost you for about 10 minutes, man.”

Thankfully police were later able to reveal that they had safely located the caller.

Taking to social media after the incident, Lee tweeted: “Tonight we took a call from a man who had taken an overdose. 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.

“Kept him on the phone for 30 minutes while he got harder to understand. Long periods of silence where I thought he had died. F***, that was intense and upsetting.

“Thanks for your kind words. I really hope he makes it.”

A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said that officers attended and dealt with the caller before he was taken to hospital for further treatment.

Inspector Kevin Morley later tweeted to thank Iain for what he had done.

He added: “My officers that attended and are now dealing with the caller. This is a very typical call for us sadly and December is a hard month for many.

“We will do our best to direct him to long-term support. We all have a role to play in supporting those that are struggling.”

The former ‘I’m a Celebrity’ contestant has previously opened up about his own mental health struggles, revealing he himself suffered from suicidal thoughts while coming off anti-depressants.

Following the upsetting incident many people tweeted the radio host to praise him for his actions.

“You should be proud of yourself. Takes a whole lot of person to be able to do what you did. You saved someone last night it’s amazing,” one user wrote.

Responding to his followers, Lee tweeted: “Thanks for your kind words. I really hope he makes it.”

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