Calgary girl who lost her leg jumping onto moving train warns others

CALGARY – A 13-year-old Calgary girl who lost her leg after trying to jump onto a moving train is now trying to stop other kids from trying the same stunt.

Kennedy Rhodes says she and a friend trespassed onto the CP Rail tracks on May 20 so they could try to jump onto a moving train.

Her friend made the jump successfully but Kennedy did not.

She says the train was going too fast and she ended up being dragged underneath.

She says her left leg got caught under the wheels, and after two train cars ran over it she managed to pull it out.

Bystanders heard her screams and called for an ambulance, but Kennedy knew she was going to lose her leg.

She is still recovering from her injury and learning to live as an amputee.

“I do kinda wish that I hadn’t done it, I would still have my leg and stuff,” she says. “I mean, I’m a stronger person for it now, and I have learned some life lessons from it. Think about what could potentially happen before you do something.”

The Transportation Safety Board says so far this year, there have been 53 incidents involving trespassers and trains, with 31 resulting in fatalities.

“People have to remember the trains are a mile or more long, sometimes up to two miles, they don’t stop on a dime even if they are travelling at a slow rate,” says Al Sauve, deputy chief of Canadian Pacific’s police service.

“It’s simply not a safe place to be, it’s illegal to be there, and the results can be tragic for all involved. You can be charged criminally, end up with a criminal record simply as a result of trespassing on railway property, to say nothing of the ramifications involved if you get hit by a train or somehow get injured while on railway property.”

(CTV Calgary)