ROCKLIN, CALIFORNIA -- A man who died last week after being hit by a vehicle was helping a family of ducks cross a roadway, according to witnesses.
The crash happened at Stanford Ranch Road and Park Drive just after 8 p.m. on Thursday, police said. The driver, a 17-year-old girl, stayed at the scene and was cooperating, police said.
KCRA 3's Michelle Bandur spoke to a 12-year-old witness William, with his mother's permission, who said the man had stepped out of a vehicle to help a family of ducks out of the path of traffic.
"He got out of the car and was shooing the ducks and everyone was clapping because he was being really nice," William said.
William snapped pictures of the rescue with his cellphone as the man and ducks walked in front of their car. He said no one moved through the intersection, even staying through green lights.
"He helped them get up over the curb because all the little baby duckies were having trouble and then he walked in front of our car," said William.
After the ducks were saved, William and others in the area applauded the man's actions.
"My mom rolled down the window and said, 'Good job, good job,' and I said, 'Good job' to him too and then right after that, the second after that," he said the car hit him.
William said the car seemed to come out of nowhere.
"I didn't see the car actually hit him. All I remember is the sound and then him flying across the intersection," he said. "His shoes and one of his socks were right in front of our car."
William says fortunately his little sister was in the backseat focusing on the ducks.
They stayed home from school on Friday with their mom, all of them still upset from the traumatic turn of events. His mother even comforted the man's children who were in his car and asking for their father.
William wants people to remember the kind man who saved the ducks before he died. He said he didn't deserve this.
"He was the only person to get out of the car and try and help them and probably the nicest person in the entire area. It's not fair," he said.
Another 12-year-old also witnessed the tragedy. He returned to the intersection with flowers and several rubber ducks.
"You should honour him because he was being really kind and then something horrible happened to him," Jude said. "He was an amazing person."
Police are still investigating the cause of the fatality. The driver has not been ticketed or arrested.
