The family of a heroic pensioner who died saving the life woman who fell on to a railway line have paid tribute to him.
Retired academic David Ashworth saved a woman's life by jumping onto the tracks after she fell from a bridge in Kent on Tuesday morning.
The 74-year-old, from Canterbury, managed to pull the woman to safety in Chartham, but was himself killed by an oncoming London-bound train.
His family said in a statement today: "We are very proud of our father’s actions in saving the life of a young lady and clearly devastated at the loss of his life in doing so.
“Our thoughts are with the young lady, her family, and the train driver and we would like to add that we request privacy at this difficult time.”
The woman was taken to hospital and is in a serious but stable condition after the incident, which police are not treating as suspicious.
Anyone with information regarding the incident is asked to call BTP on 0800 40 50 40, quoting log 183 of 16/6/15.
