Westover couple survives Amtrak train derailment, shares experience
MENDON, Mo. (WDTV) - Officials say a fourth person has died as a result of an Amtrak derailment in Missouri on Monday that also sent as many as 150 people to the hospital.
Among the passengers were Jeff and Mary Ann Davis from Westover who say they’re grateful to be alive.
They were on their way home when the unthinkable happened.
“I’m in the middle of a train accident. Oh my goodness, this is really happening.”
The Westover Couple had been in Kansas City celebrating Jeff’s birthday when the Amtrak train they were on hit a truck and derailed.
“It was like we were in slow motion. The car just went over very slowly and when we hit about a 45-degree angle, I guess the weight of the car, we kind of got slammed down.”
The crash happened Monday near rural Mendon, Missouri and sent more than half the train’s 275 passengers to area hospitals.
The Missouri State Patrol says seven of the train’s car derailed, including the one the Davis’s were in.
“I went in between two seats on the opposite side of the train from where we were sitting at and basically had a few other passengers land on top of me. I fell and hit the windows and I was very grateful the windows did not go out because basically.. I would have been ejected and probably been a fatality.”
“I just grabbed the seat in front of me and hung on. Literally hanging until the train had stopped and then kind of got down on the seats and made my way down to find him and uncover him.”
Aside from bumps and bruises, the couple was unharmed.
They say they immediately began helping others.
“I said well after having chaperoned high school band trips for 11 years -- we had kids in Morgantown High -- I said I instantly went into chaperone mode where we need to check on everybody.”
The Davis’s say everyone started pitching in to help, including people who lived in the area who drove to the scene to offer assistance.
They say the Mendon community has gone above and beyond to take care of them and the other passengers.
“The local churches have been bending over backward making sure we’ve been fed. They’ve brought us toiletries, they’ve brought us meals.”
Looking back, the Davis’s say they’re grateful to walk away with their lives.
“I think obviously the hand of God was keeping us safe.”
A Missouri Department of Transportation plan released this year cited a need to improve safety at the rail crossing where the crash happened.
State and federal agencies continue to investigate.
The four people killed have not been identified.
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