OCR Text |
Show Fayette Woman Loses Limb When Hit By Freight Train gine. Four foot prints were plainly visible in the mud and it seemed that she was trying to get away from the train; but the absence of further foot prints and the presence of signs of the mangling bore grim evidence of the awfulness of the accident. Joseph Bosen,. section hand, was the first to reach the injured woman and she reached out her arms from under the locomotive and asked for help. He pulled her from under the train and he and Harris Taylor carried car-ried her to her home. Mrs. Oscar Breinholt of Ephraim and Mrs. S. M. Duggins of Gunnison were among the chief helpers before Dr. A. J. Anderson Ander-son arrived and washed the mud and blood from the unfortunate accident victim. Mrs. Donna Beck, who is a trained nurse, was later called and rendered valuable assistance. The severed limb was picked up by another an-other section hand and was taken to the Christensen home. Citizens of Fayette and Gunnison; were shocked last week when the in- i -formation was received here that ; i HAlS. Orval Christensen, daughter of j Jim Mellor of Fayette, had been seri- ously wounded when she was run j down by a Denver and Rio Grande' freight train at Ephraim. Mrs. Christensen was rushed to Salt Lake j where an immediate operation was ! v performed, and advices received, here ' late Tuesday were to the effect that she was holding her own, but that:, she was yet in a critical condition. The Ephraim Enterprise has the following fol-lowing regarding the accident: Mrs. Orval Christensen had her right leg severed near the knee, her left foot mangled, 'received severe ' cuts and bruises about the head, and was injured internally when struck by the D. & R. G. south-bound, freight train No. 592 at about 4:15' Wednesday afternoon. The train was in charge of Conductor Barrett and Engineer Briscoe and was slowing up to take water into the caboose when the accident happened. The scene of the accident was two blocks south of the Ephraim depot' , and a half block west of the Chris-1 tenscn home.. Accounts of how it all I happened vary, even among the eye witnesses, and many wild rumors are afloat. While it does not seem wise to make any definite statement until after Dr. A. J. Anderson and perhaps j Mr. Christensen return' from Salt I Lake whe.e they went in company with Mrs. Christensen who is now in a critical condition at the L. D. S. hospital, it seems that the thing was entirely accidental and that there was absolutely no intent on the part of Mrs. Christensen to inflict injury upon herself. Mrs. Christensen has not been entirely en-tirely well since about three weeks ago after the birth of a premature child- aily in October. Her husband had left home a short time before the accident to have soma horses shod at the blacksmith shop. Relatives Rela-tives had talked with her on the phone but about ten minutes before she was so frightfully mangled. La-. La-. Von, her 9-year-old son, states that his mother left home intending to go to the home of Ivan Johnson to see a car that was being put in shape : there. She evidently failed to realize real-ize that the freight was so close upon her and stepped onto the track almost al-most in front of the approaching en- Dr. A. J. Anderson rushed to the home as soon as he received word of the accident and rendered first aid and did. all possible to relieve the intense in-tense suffering. Through it all Mrs. j Christensen showed the greatest of fortitude, making hardly a whimper. After all that was possible had been done for her here she was taken to the L. D. S. hospital in Salt Lake accompanied by Dr. Anderson and her husband. Evan Erickson drove the carNwhich belonged to Andrew Christensen. Dr. Anderson and Mr. Ericksen are expected to return to-I to-I day. They reached the hospital I about midnight and, although her 'condition is critical, physicians stat-j stat-j ed that she had a fair chance at re-. re-. covery. She has regained consciousness con-sciousness and knows and talks to all who have seen her. I Mrs. Christensen is a native of Fayette and is 32 years old. She has j four children, Lavon, 9; Claris,' 7; I Garth, 3, and Keith, 1. She is a sis-i sis-i ter of Mrs. Violet Dorius and a daughter of James Mellor of Fay-Jette. Fay-Jette. I The father, who is 78 years old, seemed to have a premonition of the : impending accident. On Tuesday he informed his wife that he intended J coming to Ephraim Wednesday to see his two daughters here. She I came with him as far as Manti where she stopped to visit with relatives. He had been very anxious to start for Ephraim and hardly waited to cat breakfast before starting. He arrived at the Dorius home about two o'clock and after having dinner and a short visit went to the ba.ber shop before going to see his other daughter, Mrs. Christensen. He was in the barber shop when the frightful fright-ful accident occurred. lis returned , to Fayette on Friday. |