Man killed rescuing kittens. No, really. That's the headline. :(

Man dies rescuing kittens

WHITE OAK - An eastern Colbert County resident trying to retrieve two stray kittens he thought he accidentally struck moments earlier was killed Tuesday night when he was hit by a passing motorist on Cottontown Lane.  Michael Arndt, 55, was pronounced dead at the scene about 7:30 p.m. by Colbert County Coroner Carlton Utley, who said Arndt likely died from injuries to his spine and head. The accident occurred at 6:40 p.m., authorities said.  The scene is about 1.5 miles from County Line Road in the White Oak community.

Arndt was carrying two kittens in his hands and heading back to his vehicle when an approaching vehicle left the roadway in an attempt to avoid Arndt's vehicle, which was parked alongside Cottontown Lane.  Friends and neighbors, many overcome by emotion, comforted each other with hugs as they raced to the area as news of the accident quickly spread. They later stood quietly and watched state troopers process the scene.

“We were real close,” said his older brother, Bob, a Moulton police officer. “Mike loved to hunt and fish, and I was going see if he wanted to go hunting on Thanksgiving Day.”  He paused briefly and did not finish his thought.

Family members said Arndt and his wife, Connie, were heading to the Quad Cities area for dinner and to buy groceries for a family meal Thanksgiving Day. They live about a mile east of the scene at 3370 Cottontown Lane. Arndt, heading west on Cottontown Lane, thought he had run over two cats, so he stopped his vehicle, turned around and headed back to the spot, according to his brother. Authorities said he pulled across the narrow, two-lane road, and when he stopped his vehicle, it was facing east in the westbound lane.

Arndt left his Suzuki sports utility vehicle and walked down an incline to the kittens. He was walking back toward the roadway when a vehicle topped a hill.  Emergency workers at the scene said the driver of a Toyota Corolla swerved to miss the Arndts' vehicle and left the roadway, striking Michael Arndt, who was three or four feet from the road.  The Toyota, which was carrying a family of three, including the couple's teenage daughter, traveled about 500 feet along the inclined ditch, crashed through a fence and came to rest in an area overgrown with weeds.

The mother and daughter in the other vehicle were taken to Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield for treatment of minor injuries, authorities said.

“That's just like him,” Bob Arndt said when finding out his brother had returned to check on the kittens. “He loved animals. There's no telling how many stray animals he picked up and gave homes to through the years. He kept dogs and cats all over his backyard. He just hated to see something bad happen to an animal.” He described his brother as a “very kind-hearted and generous man. He went out of his way to help people and he loved to tell a joke.”

“At Christmas, he would dress up as Santa Claus and go to hospitals and nursing homes in the area to visit people who were going to be alone,” Bob Arndt said. “He would buy a bunch of stuffed animals and give them to the kids and to those people in the nursing homes. He was just a great guy.”