The PayPal executive who was killed by a Caltrain last week suffered from bipolar disorder, according to his family.
Eric Salvatierra, 39, was struck and killed on the tracks in Menlo Park Friday morning.
Satierra was the vice president of consumer advocacy and operational excellence at PayPal. Before that, he was the former chief financial officer at Skype.
He leaves behind his wife of 20 years Meredith and three young daughters.
The family told the Mercury News that they are coming forward with his illness to support others who are suffering. They said they also hope to abolish the stigma associated with mental illness.
The statement read in part:
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"In the past eight months, Eric and Meredith worked tirelessly with mental health professionals to get him through his illness. In the end, he lost his fight with this debilitating disease."
Caltrain said it will take months before investigators will officially rule the death as a suicide or an accident.
The below photo was taken by The Almanac photographer Michelle Le. It shows the scene last Friday.
