Deaths on shift 'destroy you' – train driver

David Boffin has witnessed two deaths during his shifts as a train driver

A train driver said it had taken him "months and months to come to terms with what happened" after witnessing deaths during his shifts.

David Boffin, a Kent-based Southeastern driver for more than 20 years, said "you're just numb, that's the only way I can describe it".

"It just kind of destroys you, if I'm honest."

Mr Boffin said he had been helped by his company's trauma management mental health scheme.

He said: "It does affect you mentally and it has taken me months and months to come to terms with what's happened."

If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via BBC Action Line

The train driver said he had seen two people die during the course of his work.

He said on one occasion he thought he was going to die.

"I was doing 85-90mph and the whole screen shattered completely and I had cuts down my face," he said.

Lee Woolcott-Ellis runs mental health schemes to help railway employees

Mr Boffin found support from a mental health scheme set up by former railway worker Lee Woolcott-Ellis.

"I see it every day," Mr Woolcott-Ellis said.

"I only have to board a train and go a couple of stops and I'll meet someone I helped three or four years ago. And the first thing they want to tell me is how well they are doing.

"There's your evidence."

For Mr Boffin, that assistance has been invaluable, as he spent months coming to terms with what he witnessed from the driver's cab.

He said: "I truly believe if I hadn't have had that help then I wouldn't have come back."