Retired British academic David Ashworth Chartham, 74, was killed by a commuter train on Tuesday while saving a woman who plummeted onto the tracks.
"The bloke was a hero," witness Michael Kember
told Kent Online.
"It's just so unfortunate that this happened to someone trying to rescue another person. There was no way the driver could have stopped the train. It soon became very chaotic with people trying to help and the emergency services arriving. It was a real shaker."
The woman, Ella Akehurst, 38, reportedly jumped from a footbridge above the tracks at Chartham station in Kent before 11 a.m. She was seriously injured during the incident, but remains in stable condition after being airlifted to a local hospital. British Transport Police spokesman Glyn Hellam said that both Ashworth and Akehurst were struck by the train.
"The lady had been on the bridge over the line and then jumped off it," Kember, who provided information to police, said of the tragic events.
"The man then jumped down and was trying to get her off. While he was doing that you could hear the electric rail buzzing meaning that the train was coming. You could hear the driver was sounding the horn and the brakes of the train were squealing. The man couldn't get her off and he was then trying to get to the end of the platform but did not make it and that was when the accident happened."
By what appears to be coincidence, Ashworth had been a friend of Akehurst's family for more than 30 years.
"We are devastated by the death of David Ashworth who was a much-loved friend of our family and had been part of our lives for three decades," said Akehurst's brother, Luke.
"He was a kind, caring and totally selfless person and that he lost his life heroically saving Ella's life is a tragedy. Our thoughts are with his family."
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