Woman injured in MetroLink commuter train crash dies

A Newhall woman who was a passenger on the MetroLink train that

derailed at the crossing at Buena Vista Street and San Fernando

Boulevard has died.

Grace Midgley Kirkness, 76, was in a rail car when the train

struck a stake bed truck at the crossing Jan. 6 and derailed. The

driver of the truck, Jacek Wysocki, 63, was killed instantly.

Kirkness, one of 32 people who were injured in the train derailment,

was taken to Providence St. Joseph Medical Center with what appeared

to be minor injuries, said Police Det. Paul Orlowski, a lead

investigator in the case. She was released the next day.

On Jan. 14, she was admitted to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial

Hospital with possible complications from injuries suffered in the

collision, Orlowski said. She was reportedly complaining of pain and

was said by family to have suffered cracked vertebrae and a punctured

lung.

She died Tuesday at the hospital. Coroner’s officials are

investigating her death.

Ryan Carter