The Lake Elsinore man who was hit by a train in Dana Point over the weekend is being hailed as a hero for using his final breath to push his wife out of the way.
Ernest Gibson died after he and his wife attempted to cross train tracks to get back to their campground where they had been vacationing for the last few days.
His wife of 37 years, Jacqueline Gibson told the Press Enterprise that the couple had just finished a walk and were heading back to their timeshare. But, a group of transients beneath an overpass forced the pair to change their route, and cut across the train tracks instead.
Gibson says they felt the tracks for vibrations, and listened for any sign of a train, but there were no indications anything was coming.
However, just as they reached the center of the tracks, Gibson says she heard her husband shout at her that the train was coming and to run.
Out of nowhere, the train had appeared and was seconds from striking them when Ernest shoved his wife clear.
“He’s my hero,” she said. “He just put me first; it’s just the way he was towards me all the time. Always protective — even when we walked on a sidewalk he’d make me walk on the inside. It was just heroic.”
Gibson says she's heartbroken and wonders why pedestrians have access to such a dangerous area on the tracks.
“I kind of wish we had both gone, because the misery is so bad,” she said. “I’m so mad they don’t have fences up on that side. They put them on the beach side but not where they tell everybody to walk. Then they call it a restricted area.”