Ugh, this is sad. An executive at PayPal, battling mental illness, apparently threw himself in front of a commuter train in Silicon Valley widowing his wife and leaving three small children at home.

From the DailyMail here:

PayPal vice-president killed by commuter train had been suffering from depression

The PayPal executive struck and killed by a California train last week suffered from depression and bipolar II disorder his family said.

Eric Salvatierra, 39, vice president of customer advocacy and operational excellence, was standing on the tracks of a Caltrain commuter train Friday morning when hit.

The family of Mr Salvatierra, who leaves behind a wife, Meredith Ackley, and three daughters, aged three, eight and 10, released a statement saying he was diagnosed with the mental illness last summer.

‘In the past eight months, Eric and Meredith worked tirelessly with mental health professionals to get him through his illness,’ the statement obtained by Mercury News read. ‘In the end, he lost his fight with this debilitating disease.’

I often forget that mental illness is often a terminal illness. Any suicide is tragic and even worse when such a young family is involved. But I suppose now one poor train driver is going to be drinking away the horrifying image of flattening a Silicon Valley fat cat with his locomotive.