A Burnham-On-Sea lorry driver who was at the scene of a man’s death on the M5 motorway this week has vowed to do all he can to prevent future tragedies.
Martin Angell was travelling from his work in Burnham-On-Sea to Buckfastleigh on Wednesday when a man fall to his death from an overbridge on the motorway near Tiverton.
Martin says the incident shook him and he has spoken of his determination to get people talking about mental health issues.
He turned to social media to post an emotional Facebook message describing how the incident had impacted him. The post has since been shared thousands of times.
In the post, Martin says: “The reality is, too often people feel worthless, feel they can’t go on, feel that nobody would miss them.”
“They’re not cowards, they’re incredibly brave people who fought their battle alone, often with nobody knowing anything was wrong. In those last desperate moments today, a man felt so low, so absolutely worthless that he took his own life.”
“All rational thought was gone, he didn’t wish to leave the impact on mine and many other peoples lives that he has.”
“In fact he most probably felt he made no impact on anything or anyone and that is the real issue here. At his darkest hour, he felt he had nobody to talk to, nothing to live for.”
“And that devastates me more than any of the harrowing images that will haunt me in the months to come.”
Martin has since said the incident had a big affect on him and strengthened his resolve to help others.
He expained: “I’m still trying to comprehend how someone in this day and age, when there are seemingly one million and one ways to communicate, can feel so alone – it’s not right.”
“I got home and just put all my thoughts down in the Facebook post. It was aimed at my friends and family and little did I think it would be shared as much as it did.”
“Since I wrote the post I’ve had friends I’ve known all my life message me to share their issues with mental health – stuff we had never talked about before. That was the thinking behind the post.”
Police and ambulance crews were sent to the M5 between Tiverton and Wellington on Wednesday morning (May 2nd) after what the Police described as a ‘concern for welfare incident’.
The Samaritans can be reached around the clock, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can reach them by calling 116 123 or by visiting www.samaritans.org
