N.B. senior keeps his health on track by taking up model train hobby

Tucked away in his workshop in Shediac, N.B., an 84-year-old tinkers with a rediscovered passion, and he says it’s helping to keep him alive.

Sonny Fagan, 84, has been diagnosed with a severe lung disease called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). He can’t stand for long and struggles to breathe, but he says his new hobby is keeping him from concentrating on his illness.

Fagan spends hours crafting buildings, laying out trees, painting people and cars, and using newspaper clippings for signage. His creations are so detailed and time-consuming to craft, he doesn’t have time to even think about his failing health.

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The senior works away with his puffer close by his side, as his trains sit idle. He won’t run it until his layout is complete, which can take awhile.

“I have doubled the size of it since I started,” he said of his latest creation.

In his workshop, his poor health and even his end of the line is a distant worry.

“Don’t worry about it. If it comes, it comes,” he said.