Virginia Toddler Hit by a Cargo Train and Miraculously Survives!
This story is living proof that guardian angels do exist! A Henrico county toddler was hit by a cargo train Wednesday night and somehow, miraculously, survived!
Police say around 8 p.m., they received calls for a child hit by a train at the railroad crossing at Dill and Vawter avenues, right off Mechanicsville Turnpike in the North Highland Park area.
The train's conductor managed to stop the train and call for emergency assistance crews. The toddler was taken to VCU Medical Center, where they are said to be in stable condition.
The child's identity has not been made public but they are being described as a child younger than 5-years-old and lives on the Richmond side of the tracks. At the time of the incident police were working to identify the child's parents or the adult that is responsible for the child. It is believed that the child may have left their home without adults knowing.
Neighbors in the area say that they are shocked something like this happened so close to home.
“This is a wake-up call for all the parents or family members that have children,” said Sharon Dease, a neighbor. “This area here, it will have to stay like this‚ because it’s been like this, all this, you know, all the time. But we as parents, or who’s raising children, we have to, you know, monitor our own kids.”
Keon Walker lives on the Richmond side of the tracks. His backyard borders the railway, and he hears the train coming every day. It even shakes his house, he says. He was home when the accident happened.
“I came to the corner because, I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nosey, and seeing the train stop, never seen the stuff on this side of the train tracks,” Walker said.
Walker was surprised to hear a toddler was hit on those very tracks just behind his home.
“Only time you will see somebody on the track is if they crossing it, but other than that, you don’t see kids back here. Most kids be in front of their houses,” Walker said.
Local safety officials are asking that parents and guardians have conversations with their children regarding safety in that area. They suggest that families living near railways should look at getting safety devices, like door chimes, to alert people when someone is leaving home.
The child has critical injuries but is in stable condition.
