Posted on 12/19/2005 8:13:17 AM PST by beaversmom
A MUM told last night how her son was killed by a train as he saved his dog.
Steven Fraser, 27, leapt on to the tracks when he spotted Labrador Sasha on the railway line.
He managed to throw Sasha to safety, but seconds later, dad-to-be Steven was killed by a train.
His mum Catherine said: "To think that Steven died trying to save a dog seems crazy. But that is the kind of person he was. He wasn't thinking of himself."
Steven's fiancee Deborah Smith, who is due to give birth on December 29, is still trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
Catherine, 44, lives a stone's throw from Hillington East station, Glasgow, where the accident happened.
She said she would always be haunted by the sound of trains passing her home.
Catherine added: "Each time, I hear the sound of a train, I relive the horrific way Steven died."
Steven, a print worker at the Daily Record's printing plant in Cardonald, was hit by a train heading from Glasgow to Gourock on Monday night.
He had chased the dog after it sneaked out when a neighbour called at the family home.
Steven rang his brother Ian to say he was trying to catch the dog.
Ian, 26, said: "He said the dog was on the loose and he had spotted him on the railway track.
"I immediately ran down to the station, but I was too late.
"I realised Steven had been hit by the train. I was in a state of total shock and disbelief. It hasn't really sunk in.
"He was such a decent guy and he worked hard to look after his family.
"He was looking forward to a new baby and his life was all laid out before him."
Steven and his mum had planned to go shopping last night to buy a "mother's ring" for Deborah. Catherine said: "I will still get the ring that Steven planned to buy.
"Their lives were all planned and everything was going so well.
"I don't know how she will pick herself up to deal with this huge grief while she is bringing up a new baby."
Steven was also very close to son Shaun, five, from a previous relationship
No mention of a wife in the story I read.
"Now, his child will be fatherless."
According to the Left- the kid will be better off.
Vote for me as president and I will do all that is in my power to restore personal responsibility to our laws.
Watch it buster! Some us LOVE our cats. :)
Hey, relax, dead didn't say he doesn't love cats... I don't want cats around me, but I love cats. Some water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, snow peas, a nice brown sauce w/ pepper heat and little ginger and they are the BEST! Cashews optional, steamed rice only please...
You will learn effective training methods from the show, "The Dog Whisperer".
Comcast has it on On Demand. If you do not have it, you might find it online by Clustying it.
I am not a professional trainer. I just know the results if I let my dogs injure someone. You can be jailed as though you caused the injury yourself.
She listens, but only if she wants to. She knows if she doesn't, she will be put in the kennel, but it is as though she says, "You gotta catch me first," and then acts too cute to punish when I do catch her...unless she gets scared, then she leaves a puddle on the floor.
I like dogs but I'd buy a new one before killing myself to save one.
First three comments on the thread, first three condemnations of the man as an idiot for killing himself over a dog. If I read further, and I will, I'll probably see more.
He didn't "give his life for the dog", he simply acted to do what he thought was right, to save something he loved, with full intention, I'm sure, of surviving... and it didn't work out.
There are people who take action without hesitation, and there are people who stand agape and watch life go by, always second guessing the 'doers' and using people like this man as a justification for their passive, lazy, selfish attitudes.
Standing by and watching life works for many of us, but sometimes we need people who are doers.
Quite right, fiance... Thanks.
I was waiting to read that the Labrador then ran around a corner and got hit by a truck. Life isn't fair, but God is just.
Sad, really sad. It's an animal for crying out loud.
A tragedy to be sure, and I'm not going to impugn the coourage or decency of this guy who probably died without thinking. He acted on instinct.
ALSO. MANY people make timing errors when approaching tarins are involved.
The larger an approaching object, the SLOWER it APPEARS to be moving. This phenomenon has resulted in MANY motor vehicle accidents at train crossings when a driver believes he/she has enough time to outrun an approaching train.
Agreed, not sure I'd do this for a dog, but definitely for a cat... :)
Approaching tarins is series business. They're hugh!
Standing by and watching life works for many of us, but sometimes we need people who are doers.
I guess you can be considered a “doer” even if you do something incredible stupid.
What he should have been was a “thinker” before doing. Like maybe he should have thought of his wife-to-be and his children, before getting himself killed for a dumb dog.
I'm sure they'll be comforted by your assessment of him as stupid. He took a risk he thought he'd get away with and something went wrong. It was an accident, happens every day, for causes a lot less defendable than a dog... People die in car wrecks just trying to go to jobs they hate. It's a risky world out there... what's amazing is how often we survive it :~D
Uh, yes he did. Whether he intended to or not.
he simply acted to do what he thought was right, to save something he loved, with full intention, I'm sure, of surviving... and it didn't work out.
Yes, and people so coked up that they think they can fly jump of buildings, with full intention, I'm sure, of surviving. It generally doesn't work out for them either.
Look, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This man's attitude, while motivated indeed by a kernel of compassion, was flat-out dumb. It's the same attitude that costs people's lives when they swerve to miss a squirrel while driving.
There are people who take action without hesitation, and there are people who stand agape and watch life go by, always second guessing the 'doers' and using people like this man as a justification for their passive, lazy, selfish attitudes.
Then there are people who stupidly jump in front of oncoming trains to save a damn dog.
Standing by and watching life works for many of us, but sometimes we need people who are doers.
What a load of self-righteous crap. This guy left a wife and a daughter behind with his "doing". If that's "doing", then we ought to be encouraging a lot less of it.
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