Follow-Up on Minnesota Child Severely Injured by BNSF Train
(St. Paul, Minnesota – October 25, 2013)
A 9-year old whose feet were severed by a BNSF train is slowly recovering and is doing “as well as a 9-year-old can do,” his mother said. The incident happened on August 16, 2013 when Marshawn Kenneth Farr-Robinson’s foot got caught got caught on the tracks while he attempted to, and fell from, a moving BNSF train. The life of Marshawn has been forever changed by this tragic incident. But throughout the whole incident Marshawn has remained calm and courageous.
The incident occurred in a clearing in the brush lining the railroad tracks. There was no fencing to prevent kids, such as Marshawn, from getting near the railroad tracks, which are particularly attractive to children playing in the area.
Witnesses said that people getting on the railroad tracks is an ongoing problem in the area. Lakeville community activist Rick Gonzales lives within sight of what he calls “an eyesore” and “dangerous”: stored rail cars held on tracks that run through the city’s neighborhoods and serve as a temptation for unsupervised or adventurous children. “Rail cars are heavy, metal, sharp objects, (and) it’s just a matter of time before an accident happens – and it’s not going to be pretty, “predicts Gonzales.
