Girl Survives Suicide Attempt as 20-Boxcar Train Runs Over Her

A despondent 14-year-old girl, ignoring the warning whistles of an approaching freight train, lay down on the tracks and survived unharmed as four diesel engines and 20 boxcars roared over her, police said today.

Engineer D. T. McClain told police he slammed on his emergency brakes but could not stop the train before it passed over the girl Tuesday.

The girl, identified only as a freshman at Memphis Catholic High School, was taken to Methodist Hospital North after rescuers found her walking in a daze near the tracks.

Police spokesman William Crossno said the girl was despondent “for several little unspecified things but nothing major. She said she remembered the train running over her.”

“The engineer said he thought the girl was going to cross the track, and he blew the whistle a couple of times to warn her,” Crossno said. “She then lay down on the track facing away from him with her arms outstretched. He tried to apply the emergency brakes, but the train didn’t stop until 20 cars or more had passed over her.”