Two women hit by car while trying to rescue dog

DICKINSON, Texas (FOX 26) - It's hard to find a picture anywhere of Linda Kirkland without a dog. Hers, a rescue, it didn't matter -- they were her life.

"The whole family is just in shock. We are in disbelief. Some of us thought this was some kind of cruel joke," said her son Sampson Kirkland.

It was no joke. It was around 8 p.m. Sunday. Linda and her best friend Martha Arvidsson were driving on 517 in separate cars when they spotted a stray in the road. They were both volunteers for Southern Comforts Animal Rescue so they did what was in their DNA to do. They stopped and tried to corral the frightened animal.  It would be their last rescue. Another car slammed into them.

"They were out of their vehicles. They were deceased in the roadway. There was a third vehicle involved. That driver did stop," said Sgt. Tim Cromie with the Dickinson Police Department. 

Kirkland's family says they were best friends. Martha was like a second mother to them.

"I saw her all the time. She was like family to me," said Leighann Kirkland.

They are angry at the driver that hit them. According to Dickinson police, he had an expired license and no insurance. He shouldn't have been on the road in the first place. The family and the people who live around here don't know where the dog came from. Was it a stray or someone's pet? It probably wouldn't have mattered to Linda or Martha.

"She passed away doing something she truly enjoyed and who am I to argue with that?  She is happy. She is with her best friend. She was doing what she loved to do," said Sampson.

Kirkland's funeral will be on Saturday. It would've  been her 70th birthday.