The man who was killed in Antioch by a freight train this week was a tree trimmer who misjudged the amount of time he had to cross the tracks, his daughter told NBC Bay Area.
“He wasn’t a man of many words, all he ever wanted was for his kids to be well taken care of and he did his best,” Melissa Cervantes said Wednesday of her 50-year-old father, Santos Cervantes.
Cervantes was struck and killed Monday by a BNSF Railway freight train. His body was located in a nearby river just before 9 p.m.
According to his daughter, Cervantes had just finished his work trimming trees when he tried to go across the train tracks at the 300 block of Fulton Shipyard Road, while carrying his chainsaw. She believes her dad may have underestimated how fast he could cross the tracks.
In an interview, Melissa Cervantes explained that the coroner told the family the death was ruled an accident, and the impact of the train was the cause of death.
Santos Cervantes leaves behind a wife, seven children and three grandchildren.
The family is now searching for ways to raise money to pay for the funeral expenses.
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“My father always wanted a traditional proper Catholic burial,” she said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise donations and honor her father. The family will be holding the funeral service on July 22.
