Scouts Returning from Philmont on Amtrak train that derailed in Missouri

[RememberSchiff]

On 6/29/2022 at 9:41 AM, RememberSchiff said:

More details are coming out. I look forward to interviews with other scouts and adults (particularly the farmer) in the coming weeks.

 

Here's an interview with one of the hospitalized scout leaders, Jonathan Awe who is an Appleton school teacher. He was still hospitalized Thursday morning, June 30

Awe, who suffered three fractured vertebrae, must have had a phrase from the Boy Scout Oath in mind immediately after the crash, “to help other people at all times.” Re-assuming his role as the Boy Scout troop’s activities adviser during the trip, he began sending texts to a group of parents letting them know they had been in a train wreck.

“I kind of drug myself to the back of the train to get out of the way,” said Awe, adding that a fellow troop leader, Dr. Sanjay Chopra, an ER physician back in Wisconsin, was screaming on the floor.

“He has broken ribs, bruised lungs and possibly a broken wrist. And a woman, I think her name was Aurora, wound up completely in the overhead luggage bin. Another woman — I don’t know her name — was in her 70s; she was moaning. She was hurt pretty bad. There were lots of people who were a lot worse off,” said Awe.

Awe said after he was carried out of the caboose on a backboard, he was laid across the rails, and he could see more of the Boy Scout troops helping other people. Again, to ensure the parents back in Wisconsin knew their sons were okay, he asked each boy to come to him so he could text their parent or have them call home.

...

Luckily, according to Marshall physician Jack Uhrig, M.D., Awe is not expected to experience any paralysis and will likely not require surgery for his injuries. Awe is planning to see a spine specialist upon his return home and was expected to be discharged in a specially fitted back brace.

Dr. Uhrig developed a special “Boy Scout bond” with Awe as he was evaluating him after his admission to Fitzgibbon.

“I was trying to obtain some information and get a feel for what had happened. Knowing he had been to Philmont and hiking in the mountains just days before, and now he was in such pain. He’s got something really wrong,” said Uhrig. “Having been a scoutmaster myself, even for a very brief time, and having been to Philmont with my own dad, I can relate.”

After the initial evaluation on Monday night, Uhrig brought some of his own old Boy Scout badges to Awe the next morning and asked him to share them with troop members as recognition of their courage through the ordeal.

After suggesting that it appeared Awe seemed to always be helping others — even in the midst of the chaos of the disaster — he again fought back tears.

“I just know what it was like … even for those few minutes … when I didn’t know that my kids were OK. And I just wanted to let all the other parents know,” he said.

More at source:

https://www.marshallnews.com/2022/06/30/boy-scout-activities-adviser-recounts-personal-account-of-train-derailment/

@Eagledad

Edited July 1, 2022 by RememberSchiff

[Tron]

This is why Scouting must continue.