Texas Teen Dies After Suicide by Train
March 06--FORT WORTH -- A teenage girl who was hit by a train in a semi-rural area of southwest Fort Worth died late Wednesday after police, firefighters and crews of both ground and helicopter ambulances labored to get her to a hospital.
The teen was identified Thursday as Megan Whisenhunt, 15, of Fort Worth.
The CareFlite helicopter ambulance that picked up the teen after landing on a bridge in the Chisholm Trail Parkway construction zone had to make an emergency landing at Meacham Airport, officials said.
A MedStar ground ambulance took the girl from there to John Peter Smith Hospital, said Brett Lyle, a MedStar spokeswoman.
She was pronounced dead later at JPS, Fort Worth police Capt. Scott Conn reported in an email at 11:42 p.m. The Tarrant County medical examiner's office identified her early Thursday.
MedStar dispatchers had been alerted shortly after 9 p.m. that someone had been hit by a train near the intersection of Old Granbury Road and Columbus Trail, Lyle said. Whisenhunt lived a little more than two miles from where she was struck.
Conn said the train, operated by the Fort Worth & Western Railroad, struck the girl as she sat on the tracks.
"Evidence indicates that [she] was attempting suicide," Conn said.
Emergency responders described the teen as about 150 pounds with a head injury and trauma to her torso, according to fire department radio communications.
Two ambulances arrived, but their crews had difficulty finding the teen in the dark, Lyle said. The area, east of Benbrook Lake, is semi-rural and very dark at night.
Once the ambulance crews found Whisenhunt, they determined she was in critical condition and requested an air ambulance, Lyle said.
Firefighters and police also arrived and created a landing zone on a bridge that is part of construction for the new Chisholm Trail Parkway. They lighted the zone with flares.
The CareFlite helicopter was able to land and take off with the patient, but soon had to make an emergency landing at Meacham, a CareFlite dispatcher said at 10:35 p.m.
The dispatcher said he did not know what the emergency was.
A MedStar ambulance picked up the girl about 10:45 p.m. and continued the trip to JPS, Lyle said.
Bill Miller, 817-390-7684
Twitter: @Bill_MillerST
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