A woman and her dog are safe after a terrifying experience in Chilliwack last week.
Taylor Corriveau, an early childhood educator, was on her way to pick up her daughter on July 17 when her car stalled just as it was crossing a train track.
“Within seconds, the bars came down and the train was coming,” Corriveau told 1130 NewsRadio.
“I was like, oh my God, I’m going to die.”
She had about 10 seconds to react.
“The conductor leaned on the horn,” she said. “I saw the lights coming. I just was like, I’m going to die or I’ve got to get out.”
Corriveau quickly grabbed her dog — “pretty rough… I felt bad, actually” — and ran out of the car.
“Somebody said, ‘What are you doing?’ and I just yelled, ‘It died! My car died!” she said.
“And then the train just smacked it and it moved about 500 feet.”
Understandably, she was extremely shaken up after this happened.
“A couple of people stopped and they were like, are you OK, are you OK, and I was like, ‘I don’t know! I don’t know what just happened!’” she said.
She remembers bystanders jumping in to help.
“Some nice people got my dog some water.”
She then called her daughter.
“I said, ‘You’re going to have to find a way home, I was just hit by the train, I’m not sure what I’m doing,” Corriveau recounted.
Someone told her they had called 911, and emergency crews were on their way.
“They all came and they made sure I was OK,” she said
“Besides being in shock, I was fine. I was just a little shaken up. It was really scary.”
Corriveau is a single mother with two children, including a son with special needs. She is currently working part-time and is without a vehicle while the insurance claim is being processed.
She says the support she has received since the incident has been amazing.
“My colleague started this GoFundMe,” she said.
“I’ve had people reach out about vehicles, and it’s just a huge help. I’m in awe of it all.”
As far as the insurance claim, Corriveau says it’s currently just a waiting game.
“[ICBC] said it is an automatic write-off, but it’s also a one-off situation, so there are a few ways they’re going to go about handling,” she said
“They’re not sure what route they’re going to take as of right now.”
Corriveau isn’t the only one who was rattled by the near-miss.
“The conductor reached out to me at the accident scene, and he was pretty shaken up as well,” she said.
“He’s been in the area for 30 years, and this was his first time having an experience like this.”
Jocelyn Helland, the GoFundMe organizer, says the proceeds will help Corriveau buy a new vehicle and cover other expenses.
“[Corriveau] moved to Chilliwack this year from Prince George in order to be able to access more resources for her children,” Helland said on the campaign page. “Having a special needs child is not easy, so having a vehicle to get her children to and from daycare and school and getting herself to and from work just became a whole lot more difficult.”
As of Saturday morning, the GoFundMe campaign had raised almost $4,500 of its $7,500 goal.
1130 NewsRadio has reached out to CN Rail and ICBC for comment. The BC RCMP has confirmed the incident and we have requested further details.
