The smile says it all! Dawn Benson is just happy to have her beloved pet dog Tasha alive and well after she dived under a children's train and had to be rescued by a mystery man.

Dawn, of Craylands, Basildon, had taken her children to Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea, for a day of fun which nearly ended in disaster.

Tasha was enjoying a ride on the train when she decided to jump off.

She said: "I just saw her shoot off, I didn't even know a man had jumped off the back of the train and had got to her.

"I could not believe she was taken from underneath the ride, and was OK, she must have been dragged along for a bit.

"I dread to think what could have happened if the man hadn't jumped off after Tasha. I have only had her since January, she was a rescue dog. I want to thank him for what he did, I said so at the time but I don't even know his name."

Published Thursday August 15, 2002

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