74 year old David Ashworth has been killed by a train in England after he jumped onto the railway lines to try and save a woman.
The woman, Ella Akehurst, 38, had jumped onto the tracks from a bridge.
Witness Michael Kember, 44, said: “The lady had been on the bridge over the line and then jumped off it, landing right between the rails where she was lying parallel between them. The man then jumped down and tried to get her off, while he was doing that you could hear the electric rail buzzing, meaning that the train was coming”.
Mr Kember said: “You could hear the driver sounding the horn and the brakes were squealing, the train driver could do nothing to avert the tragedy. He couldn’t get her off the tracks, the bloke was a hero”.
Mr Ashworth who was described as “a kind, caring and totally selfless person”, was struck near Chartham Railway Station, Kent by the Ramsgate to Caring Cross service at around 11 am yesterday.
In a statement, relatives of Mr Ashworth, who is a retired academic and worked as a lecturer in solid state electronics at The University of Kent, said: “We are very proud of our fathers actions in saving the life of a young lady but clearly devastated at the loss of his life in doing so”.
Mr Ashworth, who carried out work for NASA in the 1980’s sadly died at the scene.
The woman was treated on the scene before she was airlifted to Kings College Hospital, South London, where she is in a serious but stable condition.