Dan Skrypczak, who is the Appleton Troop 73 Scout Master, said in an interview Monday night that Eli’s 15-year-old son rushed to the driver’s side as soon as he escaped from the broken train and found the man lying in a ditch.
“He’s fine. He’s shocked now that the adrenaline is gone,” Skrypczak said of his son. “When we finally spoke to him, he was quite upset.
“Just trying to explain to him, you are hit by a high-speed train, no one could do much for the driver of the truck. He did what he could, he did the right thing, he provided comfort and help “.
Eli and 15 other scouts, as well as eight adult leaders, were on a train traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when the train hit the truck on a public crossing. The two Scout soldiers were on their way home to Wisconsin after a 10-day trip to New Mexico, said Skrypczak, who was not on the trip.
Several of the trackers on the trip jumped into action to help passengers after the Amtrak crashed.
The driver’s death was one of three deaths from the collision, while dozens were injured, including three of the adult leaders and a detective, according to officials and Skrypczak.
The train had 243 passengers and 12 crew members.
An Amtrak train derailed when the train hit a truck on a runway on June 27, 2022, near Mendon, Mo.AP
Skrypczak said his son found the man in a ditch and called a state patrol officer as soon as first aid arrived. They tried to stabilize him, but the man succumbed to his injuries, the father said.
“He’s a typical 15-year-old, he thinks he’s Superman, he should have been able to save this guy,” said the father.
The Amtrak train was traveling from Los Angeles to Chicago when it crashed into a truck on a public road.
Later, as passengers were still being helped off the train, a woman arrived who apparently knew the driver and wanted to see his covered remains, Skrypczak said.
“He said a lady was really upset and they would not let her see the corpse; but that also shook him,” he said of his teenage son.
The death of the truck driver was one of the three deaths caused by the collision.AP
Eli, who has been a scout since elementary school, was one of many scouts who jumped into action to help passengers after the derailment, Skrypczak said. A handful were able to get off the train and then helped in any way they could.
The scouts were spread all over the train, even in their seats, in the dining room and on the observation deck, he said.
A detector was actually stuck in a train bath for 35 minutes, trapped by the weight of one of the passengers who died in the incident and was at the door, Skrypczak said.
He heard that some of the scouts helped the first correspondents to immobilize the passengers as they were placed on boards and sent to ambulances.
Dozens were injured in the crash, including three of the adult leaders and a scout, according to officials and Skrypczak. Facebook / Amanda Diehl Drinkard
“Any Scout leader who sees the children remain calm and part of the solution instead of the emergency itself, I think any Scout leader would be proud of that,” Skrypczak said. “And I am.”
“I am very, very happy about how they behaved, how they behaved in this situation,” he said. “Obviously very sad it happened and I look forward to hugging my child.”
