The family of Andrew West, who was struck and killed by a train in 2001, were at the Cedarwood Station railway crossing on Sept. 25 raising awareness around railway safety.
“I'd like to hope [it's making an impact],” said Andrew West’s grandmother Betty Melik, who has been vocal about railway safety since the accident. “There are a lot of new people in Airdrie that don't even know the first thing about it, and I believe the more we get out there and try to tell them what's going on and what happened. I hope they're going to listen.”
Her grandson was 11 days away from his 14th birthday when he left his school, St. Martin de Porres High School, early after completing final exams on June 25. With his headset on, he walked along the tracks to meet friends at a nearby gas station and convenience store and never heard the train coming.
“My son wore his headphones and didn't hear the train coming behind him; so that's my saving grace as a mom,” said Roxane West, Andrew’s mom. “Knowing he had no idea.”
The annual awareness event helps West and her family get the word out and ensure the accident is never forgotten.
“That's my biggest fear as a mom is that he would be forgotten and other kids will do this,” West said. “People don't know about railway safety. It's not out there like it should be.”
She added that young kids who can’t drive yet already know about drinking and driving, but they don’t know about railway safety, despite being able to access the tracks.
“Stay off the tracks,” West said. “Think before you do anything, and you can never beat a train.”
The impact of losing Andrew on his family has been devastating. West said it created barriers, resentment, and a lot of anxiety.
As her other children grew up, she never let them cross the tracks. She drove them to the other side and wouldn’t let them ride their bikes to school when they asked.
At the awareness event on Sept. 25, Melik noted many people don’t even stop after the bells and lights have lit up before the arms come down. She said people need to be taught how to cross the tracks properly.
“[We have to] teach everyone from the time they can take your hand and walk until they get to my age and older,” Melik said. “You don't walk the tracks, trains do not have steering wheels and they can't stop on a dime. God forbid they should hit someone– it's that engineer that goes home and can't forget about what just happened.”
Andrew was killed just a short distance from the Cedarwood Station railway crossing where the family and RCMP officers handed out pamphlets and information about railway crossings on Monday.
West and Melik continue to visit schools to tell their story, with the hope of preventing other local kids from making the same tragic decision her grandson did.
The awareness initiative comes at the tail end of National Railway Safety Week, which is recognized nationally each September.
Operation Lifesaver, a national organization who has raised awareness on this issue for over 40 years, took part in the initiative alongside several local RCMP officers.
A representative from Operation Lifesaver said a lot of people think tracks are public property, but they are in fact private property of the railway company.
