Saw something this morning, I wish hadn't happened ...

[DarkJester]

I witnessed a young man get hit by a train this morning on my way to the bus stop. He was not killed in the impact, I saw him placed into an ambulance, though I do not know his current condition. It kind of put things into perspective for me. I had just been thinking of running across the tracks myself in an attempt to pass this train by. I didn't see the guy cross until it was to late, my shout and the train hitting him occurred at about the same time. The young man was no more than 10 feet away from me when it happened...I don't believe I'll ever forget what I saw this morning.




It gives me the chills to think about. He had been waiting for one train to pass, but that train blocked the sight of the incoming train. He also picked the wrong time to start text messaging. I hope he is okay, but his condition hasn't been released the last I've heard.

http://www.wlwt.com/news/13930136/detail.html

 

[Harmon]

Jester,

There was nothing you could have done.

Witnessing something like that can be a life changing experience. It might help to know that you are not alone.

You might feel okay, but you need to be aware that watching that can come back at you years later. Find someone to talk to and bend their ear, you need to get all of that emotion and such out, before it starts hurting your soul/heart/piece of mind.

Take care, and I am sorry that you witnessed that.

 

[megamania]

As Harmon said.


wow...... I've seen things when I was in law enforcement that I wish I had not but that tops it...... except for the baby shoe full of blood....... That was 20 years ago and I still get shivers thinking about it.

 

[frankthedm]

except for the baby shoe full of blood....... That was 20 years ago and I still get shivers thinking about it.

My inner gorehound wants to hear more.

 

[Lord Zardoz]

There was a thread in this sub forum some time ago about the Worst things you have ever personally seen. Some of the posts in that thread were comparable to what you saw. Particuarily the guy who was walking in downtown vancouver with his girlfriend when a suicide jumper pancaked about 10 feet away from him.

I have had the good fortune to not see any of that sort of thing.

Still, I have always said that getting hit by a train is about one of the dumbest things you could do. Getting hit by a car is understandable. They can swerve, or end up on a side walk, in addition to traditional carelessness. But a train is pretty easy to avoid, since it is very unlikely to go off the tracks. Its not like it will swerve and nail you.

Anyway, if you cannot get this incident out of your mind, you may want to seek help. The previously mentioned jumper incident I read about said that he took up the trauma counseling offered by the city.

END COMMUNICATION

 

[ObiAndy]

Anyway, if you cannot get this incident out of your mind, you may want to seek help. The previously mentioned jumper incident I read about said that he took up the trauma counseling offered by the city.

I second this. I work in a metropolitan ER, and we occasionally see things that aren't very nice. If that does happen, we try to talk out feelings and perspectives with each other, which helps with coping. I have that luxury, so I hope you can find someone to talk it out to. I'm sure the local health department office can at least point you in the right direction.

Best of luck, and I'm sorry you had to witness what you did.

 

[kenobi65]

DJ, man, I can only imagine how hard it is to shake that image.

Our local commuter rail system does a big program (Operation Lifesaver) to drive home the "be careful of trains" message; they rotate around to the different commuter stations in the area, with brochures and a video.

The video includes this clip from a local accident (taken by an amateur videographer / train buff) of an accident similar to what you saw -- a woman darted in front of the train she'd just gotten off of (which was still stopped in the station), and obviously didn't see the train coming up on the middle track (at 60 mph), because it was shielded by the stopped train. The video freezes just before she gets hit, but it's clear that it was a fatal accident. Every time I see that, I get the willies for a couple of days.