Off-Duty Deputy Saves Child From Oncoming Train

A sheriff's deputy in California says he knew he had to act fast when he realized a child was in danger of being hit by an oncoming train. Deputy Michael Castaneda, who was off-duty and on his way home, sprang into action when he saw that the driver in front of him at a railroad crossing in Redlands had become stuck on gravel as the gate was closing, People reports. Video shared by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office shows Castenada rescuing the child just before the SUV was hit by the train. "I knew there was something going on and something need to be done fast," Castenada tells KCAL.

Castenada, a Marine veteran, says he realized he had to move quickly when he saw the driver put a child down and go back in the vehicle instead of running away from the tracks. "As soon as she put that child down, I heard the horn and to me, that was the start of a race," he says. "I started running to get that kid out of there." He picked up the child and ran while the mother ran with her other child. "I think it was just the perfect timing for me to be somewhere," Castenada says. The sheriff's office said Castenada received the Meritorious Valor Award "for his heroic act of saving a child from the train tracks." (More rescue stories.)