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
Yep.
Here's the detail they won't point out: She had Steven when she was 17, and then another a year later.
Some people may not agree with my training methods.
I have American Staffordshire Terriers. I have trained them that they immediately obey every command I give them. I have been on Animal Planet, and other trainers have marvelled at the obedience of my dogs.
The first command I teach them to obey is no bite. They are so obedient to the point I can have a ham sandwich. Set it down. leave the room and it will be untouched. I can wave it in their face, tell them no bite, and they turn their head to avoid it.
When I tell them to come, they come immediately and sit by my side.
I train them to the point that no matter what their instincts tell them, they will obey me.
It's not a power trip I am on. It is for their protection and for the protection of others.
It also keeps me from getting hit by a train.
Sometimes in rail yards it's difficult to tell what is a pair of tracks and what is the space between the tracks. At night it's terribly easy to miscalculate and think that a train is going to pass right next to you, when in fact you're actually on the track. Sometimes two trains pass so close together that there is hardly room for a human being, and then you can be knocked down and pushed under the wheels. I was in a railyard once and was shocked at how confusing it is. If this guy was running around in the darkness trying to get his dog he could have very easily made a fatal mistake. No reason to believe it was suicide or that he intended to give his life for a dog; it was probably just a case of someone getting into a situation he didn't anticipate.
Filtering the gene pool.
I suspect what keeps you from getting hit by a train is probably that increasingly rare phenomenon known as common sense.
"To think that Steven died trying to save a dog seems crazy"
No, it doesn't
Are you a professional trainer? I ask because in spite of expensive training (frankly, it amounted to doggie boot camp), there's one thing the Dread Boston Salty will NOT do: return to us when we call him.
He's not allowed off-leash outside because of that. Is there a way to train a stubborn Boston terrier to come when we say, "Salty, here"?
Yeah, that's the funny thing. It is hard to imagine an otherwise normal dog would simply sit on a railroad track with a load, rumbling train bearing down on it. Something doesn't add up here in this story. I think you may be right, this is just a plausible story floated to cover up a suicide.
Labradors are excellent dogs. Good call, Steve.
I wouldn't label any dog "excellent" that didn't display the intelligence to remove itself from a track as a train approached.
Same goes for Steve.
load = loud
I would have let the dog die, but that's just me.
agreed
Or maybe the dog was deaf?
I'll say this: My Labrador comes when she is called, even when she doesn't want to. She also would not take off. I suspect the problems that led to this dog standing on RR tracks are associated more closely with poor ownership; poor breeding, in any case, cannot be the problem.
Additionally, Labradors are very, very protective of the children they own, so perhaps Steve's yet-to-be-born child will get better supervision from the dog than it would have from the father.
Good for you, now if you could be as effective training the people who purchase Staff's or pitbulls.
Maybe it has something to do with 'my baby's momma.'
So?
Oh for the love of God!! Remember when once upon a time, a human life used to be more valuable that that of an animal. Don't get me wrong. I have pets, and I love them and consider them part of the family. But if my dog is ever on the train tracks, stuck in a burning house or swept away by a storm surge, the only place you'll see me running towards immediately is to the pet store for a replacement. It would be a tragic loss, but not one worthy of me risking my life to avoid. Sacrificing your own life for an animal is just absolutely absurd!
Man ...dog's best friend ! Hehehe...
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