Image: Erik devisser / Chilliwack RCMP responded to an incident Saturday night (Aug. 17) where a pedestrian was hit by a train near the Young Road railroad crossing in Chilliwack.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Woman hit by train in Chilliwack

Chilliwack woman hit by train Saturday night faces long road to recovery: relative

Aug 19, 2024 | 9:56 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack resident Ryan Morris says his niece was hit by a train Saturday evening near the Young Road railroad crossing in Chilliwack, leaving her with multiple injuries in the critical care unit at Chilliwack General Hospital.

Morris told Fraser Valley Today by phone Sunday morning that his 33-year-old niece, who has lived in Chilliwack for approximately six years, was walking along the railroad tracks when she was hit by a train, a collision that sent her to hospital and left her in critical condition.

“She is likely to have long-term injuries from this incident,” Morris said. “She’s still in critical care, but I was able to make her laugh today which was really a gift from God. She has a broken vertebrae in her back. She was able to walk a little bit. She’s in a tremendous amount of pain. She has a long road to recovery.”

Morris extended a special thanks to the dedicated healthcare staff at Chilliwack General Hospital for looking after his niece, Shelby, since the incident Saturday night.

“I’d like to send a huge shout out to all the staff at Chilliwack Hospital. I met with the outreach worker there and I’m receiving a tremendous amount of support from their staff,” Morris said.

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Morris said his niece had visited the Chilliwack Wellness Centre, located at 45951 Trethewey Avenue not far from the railroad crossing on Young Road.

“We have people using there at the safe site on Trethewey, going out on the street, and they’re falling asleep standing up,” Morris said during a blunt 37-minute phone call with Fraser Valley Today.

Morris described a video of the incident that he saw from a friend, though Morris did not personally witness the incident. “My niece’s boyfriend is just standing there on the tracks, and Shelby was kind of walking very slowly stumbling on the tracks. In the video, you can hear the train whistling. She’s telling Wes, her boyfriend, to get off the tracks. That totally sounds like Shelby. She’s very protective of the people she cares about.”

Image: Erik devisser / A view of the train that stopped near the Young Road railroad crossing after a pedestrian was struck Saturday night.

Morris says he wonders why there isn’t a pedestrian walkway to cross over Young, let alone washroom facilities for the unhoused population near the wellness centre once clients leave the site and meander throughout the city.

“We live in a city with one of the quickest growing populations. There are numerous cars on the roads with four main streets here, and only one (Yale Road) has an overpass over the tracks?” Morris said. “There are so many failures here, where are the solutions? What is the magic number [of fatalities] for the City of Chilliwack and province to say, maybe we need to build something here? We need better mental health supports and awareness and for communities to come together.”

Morris said he just wants solutions for people who are struggling with addiction.

“I know these people are adults; addiction is an illness,” he said. “What are we doing to help them? They’re giving them pipes to feed their disease and giving them the means, while we get a front row seat to help them kill themselves.”