A FORMER soldier from Ipswich today thanked a civil servant for helping to save his life after a drug overdose.

A FORMER soldier from Ipswich today thanked a civil servant for helping to save his life after a drug overdose.

Scott Vaughan, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, tried to kill himself earlier this month by taking the anxiety drug Diazepam.

But he also made a call to the Department for Work and Pensions in an effort to sort out his incapacity benefits and quick-thinking Suffolk call-taker, Annette Moorhouse, dialled for an ambulance once she realised what was wrong.

Mr Vaughan, 35, of Schreiber Road, said: “If it wasn't for her I would have completed my mission to kill myself.

“I wasn't with it on the phone and she asked what the matter was. I apologised to her and said I couldn't go on any more.

“I didn't think it would be worth me filling in the form because hopefully I wouldn't be waking up very soon.

“She must have called an ambulance and by the time it got here I was on the verge of collapse.”

Mr Vaughan was taken to Ipswich Hospital and the next thing he remembers is waking up in the town's St Clement's Hospital.

He said he was now determined to turn his life around with the help of medical professionals and the support of his loving fiancée, Angela Carey.

He added that the problems had started in April when thugs had turned up on his doorstep and threatened him.

Somehow the incident brought back memories of his time in the Army fighting in Northern Ireland in the 1990s, where at one point a friend died in his arms.

He is now being treated for post traumatic stress disorder and has had to quit his job working in telesales for E.ON.

He added: “I would like to say thank you to the woman on the end of the phone.

“I do want to live and I am very grateful that she stopped me from killing myself.”

Tina Ellis, Jobcentre Plus district manager for Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, which includes the call centre Mr Vaughan got through to, said: “Annette's quick-thinking prevented a possible tragedy and is to be commended for her commitment to helping customers and going that extra mile.”

Has someone prevented you from doing something dreadful? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.