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A mum-of-seven was hit and killed by a train while on an early morning run.
Thelma Candelaria died on Thursday morning in Eloy, near Tucson, Arizona.
The 47-year-old had stopped to film a passing train and posted to social media. She was then struck by a second one from behind.
Her daughter Alaisha wrote online: ‘My mom was full of life and love. She was just starting to really love and cherish herself again.
‘My mom turned her life over to god and got baptized this last Sunday. She is in heaven. She did not intentionally pass away.’
The family have managed to piece together the morning of their mother’s death using the clips posted to social media as well as surveillance footage.
Footage obtained by AZFamily shows a tiny light believed to be from Thelma’s phone near one of the trains.
The train blasts its horn, but the light remains motionless.
A second train suddenly appears, travelling from the other direction.
Alaisha said: ‘She was singing along to Jessie Reyez, which is her favorite artist. She was laughing.
‘She did not see [the train] at all as her back was facing it. She also had her noise-canceling headphones on.
‘She was happy when she passed, singing her heart out, free and loud and beautiful and expressive as always.
‘Remember her how she was because that’s exactly what she was up until her last seconds.’
Train operator Union Pacific said: ‘Our hearts go out to her family and loved ones. The Union Pacific crew operating the train at the time of the incident was not injured and is being offered support. The incident is under investigation.
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