(Fort Worth, Texas – March 5, 2013)
The tragic death Sunday afternoon of 16-year-old Crowley High School sophomore Alejandro Garnica, has been especially hard on the teen’s step-father, Philip Wilson who, himself, is a locomotive engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad. Alejandro was struck by a Union Pacific freight train when he and four friends climbed through the cars of a stopped train in Fort Worth, TX, only to be confronted with a second train traveling on a parallel track at 60 mph,.
The quintet of teen boys were on their way to a Dollar General Store about a mile and a half south of Garnica’s home when the horrible accident occurred a little after 2:30 P.M.
“He was a normal 16-year-old,” Wilson recalled of his step-son. “But I couldn’t impress on him how fragile life is. Kids today – they think everything is an illusion with these (video games) They think they’re invincible,” lamented the inconsolable locomotive engineer.
Wilson has been no stranger to events similar to what befell Alejandro. “On the train crew, you witness stuff, and it stays with you,” Wilson said. “Believe me, it does. And for it to happen to my own family…is unbelievable.”
A memorial fund has been set up in Alejandro Garnica’s name at any Wells Fargo Bank branch, and the Union Pacific has said it is looking to help the family in any way possible.