Talkshow DJ saves boy's life

A late-night radio talkshow host kept a 13-year-old boy talking live on air for 45 minutes after he phoned to say he was going to commit suicide.

The teenager repeatedly threatened to kill himself as he told DJ Pete Price how he could not cope after his mother's death.

When the boy would not change his mind Price, 58, abandoned his show and drove to see him.

Price said: "Calls were stacking up but how could I put the phone down? I had to find the boy. When he told me where he was I just went. He obviously felt he could talk to me and I knew I had to help."

The boy, called Michael, had called Price's show once before, late last year, so he agreed to meet in person. When they spoke face to face, Price managed to talk him round and took him to a police station where he was reunited with his father.

Price, a late-night presenter at Liverpool's Magic 1548 radio station, said: "I was desperately worried. The boy said nobody understood his pain. In 20 years, this has never happened to me before. Last time I spoke to him he was so stressed. Luckily two ladies listening to the programme heard him say where he was and found him. They took him to the police.

"I didn't hear anything from him until my first call on Wednesday. He's a nicely spoken lad, and has something about him.

"But when I asked him what he'd learned since I last spoke to him he said 'that it's a cruel world out there'. He's young-looking for his age and I think he gets bullied at school and has run away from home."

The boy's mother, a petty criminal, died on 1 January last year. "Every time he tried to talk to anyone about her they told him she was a drug-dealer so what's the matter?

"He wouldn't say where he was. I asked him if he'd tell me off-air and he said yes. So I got the producer to put continuous music on and went to him. When I got there he was very upset. I hope he is okay."

A spokeswoman for Merseyside police said: "Pete's actions in this situation are highly commendable."