Woman hit by train while trying to save her dog, inquest hears

A woman was killed while trying to pull her dog from the path of an oncoming train in Co Mayo, an inquest has heard.

Bridget McHale (70), of Knockshanvalley, Straide, Foxford, was hunched over ‘Prince” when she was struck by the Manulla to Ballina passenger train on April 1st, 2017. The dog had lay down on the tracks at the Knockshanvalley level crossing and was refusing to budge.

The statement given by train driver Jonathan Hopkins gave to gardaí was read into evidence at the inquest in Castlebar. He recalled sounding his hooter when he saw the dog on the crossing and seeing the woman walking down the side of the track towards the dog.

Mr Hopkins said he sounded the hooter continuously to warn the woman and had the brakes in the emergency position.

“The woman was reaching in over the rail to try and get the dog off but then she moved onto the middle of the tracks completely and hunched over the dog,” he said. “At this point the train was more or less on the crossing. Shortly afterwards the train struck the woman and came to a stop a short distance up the line.”

Impact

Mrs McHale died immediately from extensive injuries and ‘Prince’ also died instantly due to the impact.

James McHale, the deceased's husband of 51 years, did not attend the hearing but in a statement to gardaí, he recalled that on the night before the tragedy he and Mrs McHale had gone dancing in Swinford and enjoyed "a great night".

He said she was “in great spirits” on the morning of the incident and that they had read the papers together and worked on a crossword before she took the dog for a walk at 10.30am.

He said his wife walked Prince at least twice daily and along the same route.

There were 18 passengers on the train when the accident occurred. None witnessed the impact and none were injured.

After an inquest jury had returned a verdict of accidental death, the Coroner for Mayo, Patrick O’Connor sympathised with the McHale family on their loss.

He said it was a sad case of a woman giving up her life for her dog.