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The train driver asking men to open up about mental health

Heather Waugh has been committed to preventing suicides, since experiencing a traumatic event while driving a train

Heather Waugh is Scotland鈥檚 only female freight train driver, and she鈥檚 committed to improving the mental health of her male colleagues. Her work was inspired partly by a traumatic incident she witnessed while driving a train, when a young man took his life on the tracks. Now she鈥檚 been trained by a mental health charity to spot the early warning signs of mental health problems. She spoke to Outlook鈥檚 Andrea Kennedy.

If you are feeling emotionally distressed, support is available internationally at https://www.befrienders.org and in the UK at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Cheick Sanou aka Iron Biby is a strong man from Burkina Faso. Growing up he was bullied for his size, but when he started hitting the gym it became apparent how incredibly strong he was. He鈥檚 now a world class contender in Strongman and he holds the record for the highest number of overhead presses of another person in a minute.

When Hussain Zaidi started his journalistic career, his home city of Mumbai was caught up in a vicious mafia war. The men who ran the gangs wielded huge power over business, smuggling and the entertainment industry. As they fought for dominance the body count rose. Hussain was a crime reporter and he wanted to get the whole story, and so he embarked on a high risk mission to track down and interview the most dangerous criminals in the city. Eventually, his work would lead him to the most famous don of them all, Dawood Ibrahim. Hussain spoke to Andrea back in 2019.

Picture: Heather Waugh
Credit: 大象传媒

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy
Producer: Harry Graham

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

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41 minutes

Broadcasts

  • Mon 26 Jul 2021 11:06GMT
  • Mon 26 Jul 2021 17:06GMT
  • Tue 27 Jul 2021 02:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

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