(The following story by Teresa Blackman appeared at NWCN.com on May 17.)
MARION COUNTY, Ore. — A boy playing “chicken” with friends on railroad tracks was struck by an oncoming Union Pacific train Friday night, police said.
The friends were daring each other to wait until the last moment to jump out of the way as a mile-long freight train barreled down on them near Union Street in Jefferson, just after 9 Friday night, according to investigators.
One of the boys waited too long.
“Kyle Clements attempted to ‘dodge’ the train, by running in front of it and then jumping off the tracks at the last second. The train hit the boy, throwing him about 30 feet off the tracks. The boy was transported by Jefferson City Ambulance to Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis, then life-flighted to OHSU,” said Sgt. Jeff Wheeler, with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
At last report, the 13-year-old boy was listed in serious condition with multiple fractures and internal injures.