Una Tragedia (THIS IS GRAPHIC CONTENT!!!!)

Una Tragedia

A Tragedy

Note *** this is graphic content***

Monday on our way home from Livorno Ferraris we witnessed an awful tragedy. We had no idea what was happening but it definitely made me rethink my own problems. I guess the saying is true, no matter how bad you may think you have things, there are always others who have it worse. Be thankful for what you have.

On our way home I found myself aggravated, we had made the travel from Livorno Ferraris to Novara and all the train tracks seemed to be at a dead stop. We were going to miss our connection in Milan with the Eurostar and we would be late getting back to Florence. We were at the end of our trip and I was ready to get home to my own house, in my own bed. This bump in our road was a major annoyance to me. I was happy at least that we weren’t going northwest because the trains going to Torino were delayed 60-80 minutes. What the heck was going on??

Finally our train was approaching the binario (track) and we were still on time. Just before boarding it came over the loud speaker that the reason there were delays was because someone had been hit by a train in Magenta. At this moment I felt terrible for the anger I felt and immediately prayed that the person hit was okay and we also prayed for the family. We didn’t know how bad it was.

Magenta is a stop on the way to Milano, actually only a few stops from Milan. We were still on time with our train and we still had the chance to get our connection. We weren’t worried about this anymore we couldn’t stop thinking about what was happening further down the tracks in Magenta. Everyone on the train was talking about the accident trying to get more information from the conductor. He didn’t know anything just that someone was hit.

As we approached Magenta, the train stopped completely. We knew we were close but had no idea what we would find in the town. I figured that perhaps someone was hit as the train was taking off or hopefully that it wasn’t anything too serious.
I was wrong, VERY wrong.

The train approached the station and the first thing we saw was the fast train, which normally goes to France. It was stopped a little way up from the station. Next, what we saw I can’t even describe the horror. The accident remnants were still there and you could see everything. The train pulled in slowly and to our right was the remnants of what had happened. You could see all the yellow numbered placks on the ground marking the start of the accident #1 to what I could see was all the way down the track to #6. There were white chalk circles everywhere. There were 2 large pieces (body parts) far apart covered in sheets and there were pieces of blood and bones scattered all over the tracks and some on the station platform circled in white chalk. There was a shoe right beside my window. It was terrible. It was complete horror like something you would see out of horror movie. It was as if the body had completely exploded.

I will never get this site out of my head. I felt terrible, I felt sad for the person, for the family and even more for the feelings of annoyance I had felt earlier.
Maurizio and I both began praying for the family and the person.

Later we found out after reading the newspaper that the person hit was a 23 -year old boy. Apparently the boy had some psychological problems and the authorities think and based on witness accounts that the accident was a suicide. The boy threw himself in front of the fast train as it made its way through the station. The train was going at top speed. How awful it is that this 23 -year old boy had such problems on his shoulders that he didn’t feel he could go on.

Please remember there is NOTHING so bad that God hasn’t given us the strength to survive. Our life is precious and we must live it to its fullest.

*Sorry for the graphic detail above