THE first man on the scene of the Selby rail crash has been recognised for his bravery by a national award.

Greg Cooper, 35, helped dozens of people in the Great Heck tragedy which left ten people dead and 70 injured.

The father-of-two, from Carcroft, near Doncaster, who was working at Northern Straw at the time, heard the noise of the crash and rushed out to find the carriages only yards from the building.

He directed the walking wounded and got into the carriages, where he found what he described as chaos.

Greg said: "I did not realise how serious it was and did not realise it was a passenger train until I saw people walking out. I did not have time to think about it I just went straight in there."

As he walked through the carriage he went from person to person, trying to make them comfortable and reassuring them.

Outside, he found one man in a nearby field and waited with him for 20 minutes before helping a firefighter carry him to safety. It took Greg ten months of counselling and a course of anti-depressants before he came to terms with what had happened.

He said: "I had never seen anything like it before and it was not until about two days later that it started sinking in.

"When I was at work there were trains running past and I could not stand it as I was stopping to make sure they went past."

Greg eventually decided to leave work and make a fresh start at another company in Doncaster, and said his family had been a great help.

He said: "The support I had from my wife was unbelievable. When you are in a situation like that you realise how much your family means to you - I could not ask for a better wife." Greg's wife, Nicky, and his sister, Shelly Jane, nominated him for the national award in That's Life magazine.

Nicky said: "He is a lot better now, but he has been to hell and back and there were times when he did not know what to say or do.

"It was a gesture on my part to let him know his bravery was beyond the call of duty."

Although Greg did not win the competition, he was given a special mention for his bravery and his ability to turn his suffering into strength.

Updated: 12:14 Thursday, August 29, 2002