18 September 2008
Chatsworth Train Crash Gets Boy Scout Help
Posted by admin under: recognition .
Hopefully I’ll be able to provide more detail after I get a chance to interview them, but for now I’ll share the fact that the older brother of a girl who used to be in my troop was present in the aftermath of last Friday’s terrible train crash in Chatsworth, California.
In fact, I seem to have quite a few connections to this event. I was on my way home to prepare for a Boy Scout outing when I heard the news on the radio. It turns out I was only 5 miles from the scene. Knowing that our Scoutmaster lives nearby and that his youngest son, a Tiger in my den, takes karate lessons near the Chatsworth train station, I immediately called him to let him know about the crash so he could avoid getting caught up in the scene. It turns out he already knew about it.
I guessed right. He was at the karate studio and had heard the crash when it happened and seen the fireball that erupted from the collision. Not given to high emotion, he informed me quite calmly that a karate student had just exited the train in order to join the class.
I was familiar with the station because our troop had used it last year for one of our outings. There are stations all over the Los Angeles area, but we had departed from this one because it was close to some of our boys. I didn’t know that one of my bosses at work had a roommate who also traveled through that station. Unfortunately, he was on the train when the crash occurred and is now recovering from severe injuries including a broken back.
I thought it was so strange to have all of these connections to the scene of the accident. The next day, however, I found out that one of my Girl Scout troop’s former members had an even closer connection. Her mom had been our cookie chair a few years ago and I remember hauling cases in and out of her house while her kids helped. Her son was there, but I didn’t remember him much. I was concentrating on Thin Mints.
One of the kids was Tyler who is now in an Explorer post with an eye on becoming a paramedic. According to his mom,
He and his friend (who had been his partner at the ambulance company) just happened to be driving home on from paramedic school and saw fire and police vehicles flying past them on the freeway. They knew something big was going on. Then they saw smoke and decided to go check it out and see if they could be of help. Since they arrived so quickly after it happened they were very much needed. They were in their explorer uniforms so they introduced themselves and asked where they could be of help and the fire captain just waved them over to the red tarp and said “patients!”, which was where the most critical patients were being sent. Tyler said at one point he was responsible for four critical patients by himself. In all, he estimates caring for dozens of people and loading at least 20 onto the helicopters.
We’ve already been in contact with his mom, Jan, so she can inform the head of his Explorer Post what Tyler did that day. As I said, I’m hoping to talk to him directly so I can get his perspective on what occurred, but I’ve already sent Jan the description of the Boy Scout Medal of Merit.
“Medal of Merit. The Medal of Merit may be awarded to a youth member or adult leader who has performed some outstanding act of service of a rare or exceptional character that reflects an uncommon degree of concern for the well-being of others.”
It sounds exactly like what Tyler and his friend did that day and I hope the Boy Scouts of America will recognize him for it. I’m sure there are many patients and family members who will feel the same.
Tyler, BSA Explorer Scout, helps victims of the Chatsworth Train Crash
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