Thomas Yearsley
Late in the day on Monday, August 16, Thomas Yearsley of the Paladins, and his dog, headed toward the ocean for their evening walk. They crossed the tracks and headed toward the Oceanside pier. On the return, Swango ambled out onto the tracks and directly into the path of the oncoming 8:03 Burlington freight. Thomas tried to pull him out. Instead, a bystander managed to pull Yearsley out of harm’s way at the last second. Yearsley suffered a broken leg and various contusions, some of them serious enough that police were overheard telling bystanders at the scene that he might lose his leg. He did not.
But Swango wasn’t so lucky. He died within minutes following impact with the speeding freightliner.
Doctors plan to reinforce Yearsley’s splintered leg bones with a steel plate. “I’m not in terrible shape,” he says, hobbling about the studio on crutches. “And, there’s a million things in this world that are a lot worse than my problems right now.” One of the biggest problems facing Yearsley in the coming days will be the accumulation of Life Flight, emergency room, and hospital bills. He is currently without health insurance.
There are fundraisers in Austin and at the Royal Dive in Oceanside to help Thomas. Please help out with a donation if you can. Any amount will help. You can make a donation at the site erected by friends: http://helpthomas.com/
