One late evening in May 2012, a freight train conductor riding in Shirley, Massachusetts saw the silhouette of a person and a dog on the tracks ahead. He radioed for the train to stop, but could tell there wasn’t going to be enough time. Christine Spain had tripped on the tracks while walking her dog, Lilly, and fell unconscious. The conductor saw that the silhouette was moving — Lilly was attempting to pull her immobilized owner off the tracks. As the train passed over the pair, the conductor claims to have felt a thump. When he was able to safely exit the train, he found Spain unscathed; Lilly had covered her owner and took the hit for her. While waiting for emergency services, Lilly continued to watch over Spain, though the dog herself was suffering from extreme injuries, including to her front right leg, which had to be amputated in surgery.