Friends often take selfies together, but for three girls, a simple picture turned into a life-ending event.
Back in 2011, Utah was left in shock after a tragic incident took the lives of three young girls.
Sgt Spencer Cannon from the Utah County sheriff’s office reported that three teenagers—Essa Ricker, Kelsea Webster, and her younger sister Savannah—were at the Covered Bridge Canyon crossing in Utah. They waved to engineers on a Utah Railway train as it went by.
Unfortunately, none of the girls noticed a Union Pacific train coming from the opposite direction.
Cannon explained to reporters that the space between the two trains was extremely narrow, merely three to four feet.
The girls were struck by the oncoming train, resulting in the instant deaths of Essa and Kelsea at the scene.
Savannah was taken to a local hospital for surgery, but with severe brain injuries deemed irrecoverable by doctors, she was taken off life support.
Jayna Webster, the mother of Savannah and Kelsea, shared on her blog: “We spoke to the doctors today and they informed us that Savvy’s brain injuries were too great.
“Even though they’ve had done everything possible, Savannah will not be able to recover any further. We will keep her on life support till the end of the day, but it’s time to say goodbye, for now, to an angel that walked among us.”
Just before the unfortunate event, Savannah wrote on Facebook: “Standing right by a train ahaha this is awesome!!!!”
The teens, who were train enthusiasts, took a photo without realizing the danger of another train coming from the opposite direction.
The selfie showed the bright yellow headlights of the oncoming train just seconds before the accident.
Tragically, the girls didn’t hear the train’s horn.
John Anderson, a train conductor on duty, said: “They were in their own little world.”
Engineer Michael Anderson attempted to alert the girls by sounding the train’s horn, but was unsuccessful.
“We watched in horror as we got closer,” John heartbreakingly recalled. “We saw them for about 12 seconds until they disappeared from our sight and the train continued moving forward.”
Once the train finally stopped, John ran to the track and checked the first girl’s pulse, finding none.
Realizing the second girl was also gone, he hurried to Savannah.
She was gravely injured but still alive.
“I told her everything would be OK and she relaxed a little,” the conductor tried to comfort her.
“I hoped she would make it and for some reason I really thought she would.”