Iain Lee has been praised after he helped rescue a man who called into his radio show claiming he had taken an overdose.
The 45-year-old presenter kept the caller, Chris, online for 30 minutes until ambulances found him on Wednesday night (19.12.18), after he phoned into his talkRADIO show ‘The Late Night Alternative with Iain Lee’ .
In the harrowing call, the former ‘RI:SE’ host asked the 59-year-old: "Do you want to die?"
To which he replied: "I really want to discuss it with you."
After "long periods of silence" during the call – where Iain thought the caller had died – he said: "Chris, I love you brother. You deserve better than this, right?
"Whatever has happened I promise you it can be sorted.
"I guarantee that whatever has happened it can be sorted out. It might not be easy, it might be painful, but it’s better than you doing this."
Emergency services attended and dealt with the caller after being called by producer Kath.
Tweeting after the incident on Wednesday, Iain wrote: "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. (sic)"
A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police said that officers attended and dealt with the caller before he was taken to Derriford Hospital Emergency Department for further treatment.
Iain Lee praised for helping to rescue overdose caller
