Railway worker praised for rescuing dog stuck on train tracks

A man has gone viral after he managed to save a dog who got stuck in the railway tracks.

A railway station employee has been hailed a hero after he rescued a dog from the tracks last week.

Paul Hawthorn, 56, from Luton, southeast England, went to work for his usual shift last Monday morning at Leagrave Station in Luton.

But at around 7am he was alerted of a Staffordshire bull terrier running around on platform one.

The 56-year-old caught the pup just in time to avoid a train coming into the station, but as it pulled away the dog managed to get free and run onto the tracks.

@getinthebarth People dump dogs at stations like this all the time 💔 for every evil person there is a kind hearted one #hero #doglove #rescue ♬ Arcade - Duncan Laurence

While he wasn’t allowed to go down onto the tracks, he signalled for the trains to slow down and be ready to stop if necessary.

He then grabbed a croissant from a nearby stand to entice the dog to the edge of the platform.

He told Newsweek: "The guy from the coffee kiosk on the platform there had some croissant and enticed the dog over to the platform edge.

“It couldn't jump back up but as it put its paws up to get the croissant I managed to grab it and haul it up on to the platform.

"I couldn't let go - it would have wriggled free again - so I just held on and two people came along and hauled me up to my feet."

Paul then managed to get the dog to the staff mess room and posted a photo of him on social media to try and track down the owners.

Two hours later a woman was reunited with her dog, explaining the garage door had been left open and he had escaped.

TikTok users were quick to comment, with one writing: “You absolutely hero! Thank you.”

“This man is a hero thankyou so much the way the dog kisses him ,” said another.

A third wrote: “Amazing human being thank you for giving this little pup another chance”

While a fourth said: “Oh my god what a brave man one very lucky dog what a star you are sir x”

A fifth added: “Heartbreaking so glad the dog was okay the man's a hero.”