Budding Journalist Killed in Freak Train Accident During Dramatic Situation - 'Worst Nightmare Ever'
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
A 22-year-old budding journalist was killed last month after being struck by a train in Chicago, leading her parents to call for increased safety around the station where the incident took place.
Grace Bentkowski, 22, who had worked for several months as a creative producer at NewsNation, was killed on July 25 at the Hegewisch South Shore station while heading back to the family home in Dyer, Indiana, according to WGN-TV.
At the station, riders must cross the tracks to go to and from the parking lot. On the day of her death, her family said Bentkowski crossed after others had done so, but was struck.
“We have the kids on a Life360 [GPS] app, and we saw that she got on the train,” Phil Bentkowski, her father, said. “And then a delay came up on the South Shore website. The next one said train-pedestrian accident. I thought, ‘glad it’s probably not her.’”
Then the GPS route started going backward into Chicago at 70 to 80 miles per hour toward a hospital.
“I got a bad feeling she was the one who was hit, as soon as I saw she ended up at University of Chicago I hopped in the car and drove down there,” Bentkowski said. “I spoke to District 3 CPD or transit police and they asked ‘are you related to Grace Bentkowski?’”
At the time, she was alive, but surgery was unable to save her.
“My initial thought was ‘that’s not possible,’” her father said. “Was under the assumption that if you were hit by a train leaving the station, obviously it wouldn’t be that fast and worst case was maybe a broken leg. It’s the worst nightmare ever.”
Bentkowski said video of the incident shows there was no warning.
“No noise, no nothing. From the video all you hear is a thud,” Bentkowski said. “Then the engineer blows a horn.”
Family members now want increased safety at the station.
“It’s such a safety issue. This is 2024,” Bentkowski said. “I don’t understand why there isn’t ‘stop, look, listen’ safety signs — it makes no sense. She was thrown 50 feet.”
NewsNation journalist killed in freak train accident https://t.co/k9qpiKXpgM pic.twitter.com/iZZ7KYEjWw
— New York Post (@nypost) August 14, 2024
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District said it will add warning signs.
“We are reaching out to an engineering firm to determine what it will take to add active warning to the pedestrian crossings,” it told WGN.
“In the interim, we are installing warning signage, and, although not required by law, the South Shore Line will institute a train whistle board to sound as trains approach the crossings,” it said.
“Grace Bentkowski was a rising star at NewsNation,” the network said in a statement, according to the New York Post. “Her passion for journalism and eagerness to learn the ropes was infectious and her willingness to jump in and learn the TV news business was inspiring to her colleagues. Grace was one of those rare people who brought light into any room in which she entered.”
“We are heartbroken for her loved ones and family, and she will never be far from our hearts,” NewsNation said.
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