(The following article by Anita Davis was posted on the Boston Herald website on December 19. Kym Berry is a member of BLET Division 57 in Boston.)
BOSTON — A meandering pup who survived being run over by a commuter train was reunited last night with the railway workers who saved him – and who called his death-defying tale a Christmas miracle.
“It’s a happy day for all of them,” said Robin Lennon of Walpole, owner of the lucky pug, 5-year-old Max. “We couldn’t ask for a better Christmas present.”
Early Friday, Max ran onto the tracks near his home as an MBTA commuter train headed his way. Engineer Kym Berry, who saw Max from a distance, pulled the emergency brakes to slow the train, but it was too late.
Yet when fearful conductors went to inspect the scene, they found the shaken dog entirely unharmed because he was small enough to fit beneath the train.
“He was a little scared when I picked him up, and he did a little pee pee on my hand, but hey, it’s a small cost,” said assistant conductor Pete Tomassini, who retrieved Max from under the train.
Max went to Tomassini’s home in Hull while Berry called animal shelters and police departments to find his owners. Officers directed her to Lennon, who’d reported Max missing earlier that day.
Tomassini bought Max dog food, played with him on Nantasket Beach and took a nap with him before meeting Lennon at the Walpole train station.“I was getting really attached to this dog, and I’m really going to miss this dog,” he said.
Lennon, who shared some puppy love with Berry and Tomassini at a reunion yesterday, agreed that Max is a great dog. She said the dog-tired pug slept for 12 hours when he returned home.
“I was so relieved. My stomach was in knots,” she said. “I got my Christmas gift. Kym and Pete were fabulous . . . they went beyond their service and that’s so good, especially this time of the year.”
Although Tomassini does not have a dog, he’s considering getting one. But his dream dog is spoken for because if he could get any pooch, “I would like to get Max.”