A Man Derailed

Description

After 35 years of almost normal life, everything Paul Holmes had known was turned upside down with an accident he was involved in while driving a train. What followed was to drag Paul down to the depths of severe depression, an eating disorder, post traumatic stress and anxiety, he was now damaged goods. Over time Paul had to work hard in trying to make things right for his wife and himself. Battling with an uncaring large company, unhelpful medical system and friends that one by one fell by the wayside. This was almost impossible as lack of understanding from family and friends made them feel totally alone. A Man Derailed is his story.

About the Author

Paul Holmes was born in London in 1968 and had a wonderful childhood growing up with a good family and a pack of Greyhounds. School went by without too much problem and soon adulthood meant moving from job to job trying to find that elusive career. In 1998 he found the career he wanted and became a train driver, marrying Mandy 4 years later. Then in 2003 he was involved in a train accident. The rest, as they say, is history.

Book Extract

Can you walk like a train driver? Come on, you know what I mean. As he gets out of his driving cab he deliberately holds his rucksack over one shoulder making it look like it weighs 200 lbs and looks at the floor. As fast as his body allows he marches up the platform to the other end of the train, avoiding all eye contact with any other person on the platform. He usually looks like an old man carrying a bag of coal into a head-on wind. There is actually a perfectly good reason for this: it's to avoid a stupid conversation with passengers. As shown below:

Passenger: Excuse me! Is this the train to Cambridge?"

Driver: Do you mean this train here? The one with Cambridge written on it. The train on the platform marked "Train for Cambridge", the one with the automated message blaring out "THIS TRAIN IS FOR ALL STOPS TO CAMBRIDGE"?