Posted on 11/22/2017 5:44:11 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Scott Wulff, 61, from Jacksonville, Florida, chased after his dog Astrid - but tragically both of them were struck by an Amtrak train Sunday.
Witnesses say Astrid became spooked by the locomotive's lights and sounds as the train was approaching and ended up running directly towards the busy tracks.
Wulff ran after her in a desperate attempt to capture his dog and pull her to safety.
'I heard the train speeding by, then a loud breaking sound,' Isaiah Boone told People. 'So, I go outside and I see everybody drop down on the ground in tears.' Boone who works as a cashier in a restaurant across the street from the accident scene said he would see Wulff and Astrid in the neighborhood regularly.
'No matter how much or how little he had, he would always feed his dog first,' Boone said.
'He made sure he let everybody know how much he loved her and how proud he was of her. She was his world.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I would not intend to do so, but I can see myself doing such without forethought. Funny how the owner and dog look alike.
Tragic but kind of sweet. The guy apparently had some struggles in life and this doesn’t really seem like the worst way to go.
They reached the Rainbow Bridge at the same time, together, and they crossed over it together.
I never had a pet I would die for and never will.
Well, I’m sure this guy never thought that he would die trying to save his pet. I feel sad about this and I wonder how long this guy would have lasted if he survived and his dog didn’t. Sad, sad, sad.
There are many cases of pets endangering (and giving) their own lives to save those of their owners, it isn't a stretch to me to imagine that could be reciprocated.
And nobody REALLY knows what they will do in a given situation.
We had a man in a town near me who just passed away last week Captain Thomas J. Hudner who was awarded the Medal of Honor in Korea for intentionally crashing his plane to save the life of a fellow pilot who had been shot down. (He could see him trapped in his burning plane, so he crashed to pull him out and protect him from Red Chinese troops)
I marveled to my wife that a man could do that...how COULD someone do that? I had a hard time wrapping my head around it.
My wife said "If it was Dave (my best friend) you would do that for him, wouldn't you?" and then it occurred to me...yes. I supposed I could. One never knows. That is the point, to me...one never knows. If I had an animal I loved, and it was struggling to swim in a rip tide, would I go after it? I probably would, but one never knows for sure.
A dog would die for you.
Were that we could be the people our dogs think we are!
I don’t intend on dying for my pets either; however, I do love both my dogs and would do what I could help them avoid harmful situations. Would do my best to get them off train tracks but not at the sacrifice of self. I’m pretty sure this guy would not have lasted long without his pup.
Most people think that way until it happens. My Jack Russell escaped the house once and I was chasing him around in the middle of the road. I never saw traffic. I’m in the country so traffic isn’t heavy but by the time I caught the little booger traffic was stopped both ways and people were just laughing while I chased him and finally caught him. Thank goodness most of the neighbors I have are good people and dog lovers. My focus was only on him, not on traffic.
Sounds like that dog had saved his life, but he was not able to save hers.
Yep, people go into emergency mode at times, and careful risk processing doesn’t generally pertain at that point.
A shame for this man and his dog.
Pet owner, 61, is killed by a train after trying to save his beloved dog which had run onto the tracks
Sounds like a scene Stephen King could have written into “Pet Sematary”.
Thank you for the link on Tom Hudner.
It is a great story, and emblematic of American greatness and self sacrifice.
I got a little misty reading it.
Same thing happened in my town to a guy who was cutting down a very large tree. His dog got in the way and he tried to save him the tree fell down on the guy and killed him
Sad story...really sad. However, wrong decision to get in front of a train in that case. My....
Scott Wulff was the person Astrid thought he was.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.