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By Hudson Sangree
hsangree@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 - 9:55 am
Todd McHugh doesn't think he was a hero Monday night, but police say the Citrus Heights teen probably saved a mother and her two young children from serious injury or death.
He pulled them out of their car stuck on light-rail tracks in Folsom about 90 seconds before a Regional Transit train smashed into it.
"This young man stopped, he got out, and he got up to those tracks and helped that woman from the car," said Folsom police spokesman Sgt. Rick Hillman. "A lot of heroes don't think of themselves as heroes. They just do what needs to be done."
Hillman and McHugh described what happened at 7:15 p.m. near the intersection of Folsom Boulevard and Iron Point Road:
McHugh, 17, was northbound on Folsom Boulevard on his way to meet friends when the silver Honda Fit in front of him veered off the road, went into a ditch and jolted to a stop on the tracks.
McHugh jumped out of his Dodge pickup and went to help. The driver, a woman who police say had fallen asleep, was behind the wheel and dazed. Her two daughters, ages 7 and 10, were in the back seat, buckled in.
McHugh took the woman's hand and helped her from the car. She unbuckled the kids.
Another driver who had pulled over to help shouted that a train was coming, McHugh recalled Tuesday.
Police said the other good Samaritan, who was unidentified, ran along the tracks and tried to wave down the train. It was dark, there was a bend in the tracks, and the train operator probably never saw him, Hillman said.
A Regional Transit spokeswoman said the speed limit on that section of tracks is 55 mph.
McHugh said the driver applied the brakes, but the train was still going fast when it came up on them.
The woman, her daughters and McHugh took shelter behind his truck as the train smashed into the subcompact, dragging it down the tracks, the teen said.
The woman's car was demolished. Officials said the train was damaged. But none of the the crew and four passengers was injured.
Hillman said the outcome could have been far worse. "Had she sat there for another minute or two, she and her daughters could have been in that vehicle when the train struck it, and they could have been severely injured or killed."
At his home in Citrus Heights on Tuesday, McHugh said he "didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done."
McHugh described himself as an average student at Bella Vista High School. A junior, he said he would like to be an airline pilot.
The teen had CPR and first-aid training at the urging of his father, Bill McHugh, a retired Air Force firefighter and now a safety engineer.
Bill McHugh said he was proud of what his son did. He said Todd is working to become an Eagle Scout.
As emergency workers arrived Monday night, Todd McHugh thought it best to get out of their way, and he left to join his friends.
The woman's husband, Eugene Lo, spoke with The Bee. He said his wife, who does not speak English, was in shock and didn't want to talk about what had happened.
The family lives near the crash site.
Lo said he wanted to thank the young man who may have saved his wife and daughters.
"We are grateful that he helped," Lo said. "We wanted to say thank you last night, but he was already gone."
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2542080.html
hsangree@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Last Modified: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 - 9:55 am
Todd McHugh doesn't think he was a hero Monday night, but police say the Citrus Heights teen probably saved a mother and her two young children from serious injury or death.
He pulled them out of their car stuck on light-rail tracks in Folsom about 90 seconds before a Regional Transit train smashed into it.
"This young man stopped, he got out, and he got up to those tracks and helped that woman from the car," said Folsom police spokesman Sgt. Rick Hillman. "A lot of heroes don't think of themselves as heroes. They just do what needs to be done."
Hillman and McHugh described what happened at 7:15 p.m. near the intersection of Folsom Boulevard and Iron Point Road:
McHugh, 17, was northbound on Folsom Boulevard on his way to meet friends when the silver Honda Fit in front of him veered off the road, went into a ditch and jolted to a stop on the tracks.
McHugh jumped out of his Dodge pickup and went to help. The driver, a woman who police say had fallen asleep, was behind the wheel and dazed. Her two daughters, ages 7 and 10, were in the back seat, buckled in.
McHugh took the woman's hand and helped her from the car. She unbuckled the kids.
Another driver who had pulled over to help shouted that a train was coming, McHugh recalled Tuesday.
Police said the other good Samaritan, who was unidentified, ran along the tracks and tried to wave down the train. It was dark, there was a bend in the tracks, and the train operator probably never saw him, Hillman said.
A Regional Transit spokeswoman said the speed limit on that section of tracks is 55 mph.
McHugh said the driver applied the brakes, but the train was still going fast when it came up on them.
The woman, her daughters and McHugh took shelter behind his truck as the train smashed into the subcompact, dragging it down the tracks, the teen said.
The woman's car was demolished. Officials said the train was damaged. But none of the the crew and four passengers was injured.
Hillman said the outcome could have been far worse. "Had she sat there for another minute or two, she and her daughters could have been in that vehicle when the train struck it, and they could have been severely injured or killed."
At his home in Citrus Heights on Tuesday, McHugh said he "didn't do anything anyone else wouldn't have done."
McHugh described himself as an average student at Bella Vista High School. A junior, he said he would like to be an airline pilot.
The teen had CPR and first-aid training at the urging of his father, Bill McHugh, a retired Air Force firefighter and now a safety engineer.
Bill McHugh said he was proud of what his son did. He said Todd is working to become an Eagle Scout.
As emergency workers arrived Monday night, Todd McHugh thought it best to get out of their way, and he left to join his friends.
The woman's husband, Eugene Lo, spoke with The Bee. He said his wife, who does not speak English, was in shock and didn't want to talk about what had happened.
The family lives near the crash site.
Lo said he wanted to thank the young man who may have saved his wife and daughters.
"We are grateful that he helped," Lo said. "We wanted to say thank you last night, but he was already gone."
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2542080.html
