TaLoN
Posts : 2219
Join date : 2009-09-20
Location : Farmington, Minnesota
 |  Subject: Van Stuck, Train Coming... Enter Heroes  Fri Dec 25, 2009 2:31 am | |
| From the Strib... Van stuck, train coming ... enter heroes
By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune
Last update: December 24, 2009 - 8:31 PM
An 87-year-old man has a Christmas thank-you letter for two good Samaritans who pulled him to safety seconds before a speeding freight train obliterated his minivan.
As a southbound Canadian Pacific freight barreled toward him Tuesday night in the southeastern Minnesota town of Lake City, Emery Henn was stuck in his vehicle on the tracks, his cane and a recent hip surgery preventing his escape.
The coal train, which was pulling 114 cars, was still pushing 50 miles an hour and only about 150 yards away from the W. Lakewood Avenue crossing when Henn heard the horn blare and the locomotive's light hit his eyes.
"I heard the train coming and prayed to God that the car door would open," Henn said Thursday, his voice still shaky and filled with emotion.
Suddenly, four strong hands grabbed Henn and pulled him away from the van and onto a nearby snowbank. Seconds later, the train threw the van into the air, scattering bumpers, hubcaps and other debris along 2,000 feet of railroad track.
"We saw a guy in need and it was a split-second reaction," said Johnnie Zimmer, 48, who with his 25-year-old nephew Justin Widell rescued Henn. "If we didn't jump in, he'd be dead."
Henn knows what he owes the pair.
"I wish these guys were here," a tearful Henn said. "I want to talk to those guys. They helped me. I would not have made it. They are the greatest guys in the world."
Lake City Police Sgt. Gary Majchrzak called the two Lake City residents heroes who put their lives in harm's way to save Henn.
But Zimmer, who tried to free the van while Widell threw his body on top of Henn to protect him from flying debris, maintained Thursday that he was only doing his civic duty. The retired Marine recalled that somebody rescued him seven years ago when his boat flipped over in the Mississippi River near Red Wing, Minn.
On Tuesday, he and his nephew were on their way back from an ice fishing outing and heading to his brother's warehouse when they saw Henn's van veer off W. Lakewood Avenue and get hung up on the rails. He saw his chance to pay the earlier rescue forward.
"I believe in miracles and the kindness of strangers," said witness Faye Conway of Lake City. "There was a higher power looking out for the driver of the minivan."
Train operator Justin Johnson pulled the emergency stop mechanism when he spotted Henn's vehicle on the tracks, but was unable to stop, said Rick Poznikoff, a Canadian Pacific spokesman. The crossing is marked with lights and gates, which were working at the time of the crash.
Henn, a former auctioneer, will be celebrating Christmas with his family today.
"We are calling him a Christmas miracle," said his stepdaughter, Virginia Oelkers of Zumbro Falls, Minn. Asked if they will send a thank-you card to the do-gooders, Oelkers said, "I think we should." | |
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cehnehdeh
Posts : 1813
Join date : 2009-09-21
Location : Chilliwack
| | Subject: Re: Van Stuck, Train Coming... Enter Heroes Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:09 pm | |
| Fucking Canadian terrorists!!
Nice to read stories like that. Hopefully the 87 yo man has his driving abilities retested. (As ANYONE over 70 should have done!) | |
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TaLoN
Posts : 2219
Join date : 2009-09-20
Location : Farmington, Minnesota
| | Subject: Re: Van Stuck, Train Coming... Enter Heroes Wed Dec 30, 2009 8:53 pm | |
| Well... keep in mind that this took place during a snow storm, and thus there were people going off the roads and getting stuck just about everywhere... | |
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| | Subject: Re: Van Stuck, Train Coming... Enter Heroes | |
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