Deaf girl hit by train
 

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/14/bea....ap/index.html


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died after being struck by a train, officials said.

Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking Monday near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said.

A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.

McAvoy, who had been deaf since birth, won the state title in June and represented the state "with dignity and pride," state pageant director Laura Loeb-Hill told The Associated Press via e-mail Monday night.

McAvoy was to represent Texas at the Miss Deaf America pageant this summer, Loeb-Hill said.

McAvoy graduated last year from the Texas School for the Deaf, attended Austin Community College and then started at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., in January, but had returned to Texas, Loeb-Hill said.

Yeah I heard about that earlier, really sad :-(

Damn that is horrible :(

It's just as bad as her walking the street, didn't she think that something might be coming?!

Shame she didnt hear about it.

OMG! :( That's not fair!

damn that sucks

You'd think she would have felt the vibrations or some shit. Trains do tend to shake the ground a bit.

Deaf or not deaf when walking near train tracks you should be extra vigilant.

It is a shame but what was she doing on train lines anyway?

As sad as the story is, I wonder what she was thinking... "I know i'm deaf, but hey - walking with my back to oncoming trains sounds like a great idea!"

ya, no shit eh?! i thought that other senses were heighten?? sad story but maybe it was intentional..?

That even happens to people who can hear

Yeah, I'm hearing impaired and have to watch out for all kinds of things. It's not too bad. Don't hear the alarm clock or anything. That's what the cat's for. :)

I was wondering the same thing. Wont hurt as much if I don't see it coming.

parents have always reminded us to look at your both sides before crossing. I guess the girl wasn't listening :(

ohhhhhhhhhh noooooooooo that ain't funny dude.:upsidedow

suicide:2 cents:

in all seriousness.

That is really sad to hear, yes, must be intentional.. why would someone walk near the tracks? and imo, she could have seen it coming from afar

Seems very foolish indeed. She obviously knew she couldn't hear, so why risk walking near tracks? I live in an apartment about 1/4-1/2 mile from tracks and I can feel the trains. Plus the train track is sunken below street level and I live on the third floor.

if you can't hear, you can at least look at the things around you to see if there's a possible peril

I don't buy this as an accident for one minute. I know a lot of deaf people and I can tell you that all of the deaf people I know would have felt it long before it got close enough to hit them. I am not saying she committed suicide, but this just does not smell like an accident to me.

what a sad story! That's why it's advisable to look for both sides before crossing.

LMAO
:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

typical klik whore response

this is the second thread about the late Miss Texas. she is too young to die.

I wonder if a blind person would have more luck?! They can hear the train, but will they know which way to go so they don't get hit.

Mine was first :moon

it was indeed a very sad story..

well, not all stories have happy ending. my heart weeps for the demise of Miss Texas.

really sad :(

that just sucks people

i take she was walking down the tracks, not across. i could see maybe she was walking for along time down the tracks not looking behind her, but surely she would of felt the vibrations. gotta be a suicide.

Here is more....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/15/mis...xas/index.html


(CNN) -- Deaf beauty contest winner Tara McAvoy was walking along the railroad tracks from her Austin, Texas, home to her mother's workplace, text-messaging family and friends, when a train struck her, according to the Austin Police Department.

A Massachusetts-born Texan, who liked to quote "Don't mess with Texas," the 18-year-old was going to represent the Lone Star State at the Miss Deaf America Pageant in Palm Desert, California, this July.

It was one of many pageants McAvoy had entered, "both in the hearing community and in the deaf community," said Claire Bugen, superintendent of the Texas School for the Deaf, on Wednesday. McAvoy was a 2005 graduate of the school, where she played sports and acted in theater.

"She was a beautiful, bright, young deaf woman," said Bugen.

The Austin Police Department received a 911 call from Union-Pacific, which owns the train, at 2:18 p.m. Monday, said Laura Albrecht, spokesperson for the Austin Police Department. (Watch as witnesses describe accident -- 1:33)

"Our understanding is that she text-messaged the family, and yes, the family members were going to pick her up," Albrecht added.

McAvoy was walking northbound along the railroad ties, with her back to the train as it approached, said Austin Police Department detective David Fugitt. "We have information that she was text-messaging family and friends" at the time, he added.

A horn sounded, but "they weren't able to get a response" from her, Fugitt said.

"At that point, they activated their emergency braking system, but they weren't able to stop in time."

A snowplow -- commonly referred to as "cattle-guards" for pushing items away from the tracks to avoid train damage -- was what struck McAvoy, who was estimated to be "no more than a foot" from the tracks, Fugitt said.

"The snowplow extends approximately 16 inches on each side from the train," he said, and was mounted to the front engine of the train.

McAvoy died at the scene from "multiple traumatic injuries," Fugitt said.

Fugitt said there were witnesses who had heard the horn sound and that the police department was actively seeking anyone who had seen the accident occur.

An investigation is under way with Union Pacific and the Travis County Medical Examiner's Office, Fugitt said. He said the Austin Police Department was awaiting information from Union Pacific on how fast the train, with its 24 cars and two engines, was going.

McAvoy's funeral is set for Saturday morning in Austin.

In addition to her schooling at the Texas School for the Deaf, McAvoy briefly attended the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, which is affiliated with Gallaudet University, in Washington. A profile on its Web site said McAvoy was class president, a cheerleader, on the prom committee and played basketball.

"She will be sorely missed," said Laura Loeb-Hill, director of the Miss Deaf Texas Pageant, in an e-mail Wednesday. "Tara represented Texas with dignity and pride."