A young woman was struck and killed while crossing train tracks at a Chicago station, and now her family is fighting to improve safety measures.
Grace Bentkowski, 22, died after crossing the tracks at the Hegewisch station with her view obstructed on July 25.
She graduated from Ball State University in May and recently began working as an associate creative producer for NewsNation.
The television journalist was traveling to his home in Dyer, Indiana, via the South Shore Line and followed several others crossing the tracks toward theThe parking lot, but tragically seemed oblivious to the train coming at full speed toward her.
“There’s no noise, there’s nothing. In the video, all you can hear is a thud, then the engineer blows a horn,” said Father Phil Bentkowski. WGN.
Grace Bentkowski (pictured), 22, graduated from Ball State University in May and recently started as an associate creative producer for NewsNation.
The TV journalist was run over and killed while crossing the train tracks at Hegewisch station (pictured) on 25 July.
‘Her phone was not damaged, she was not using it and she had her AirPods in her purse. The only thing she had in her hand were her car keys.’
Footage of the incident showed Grace saw others crossing the tracks, but her view was obstructed by a large pillar, according to her family.
“My first thought was ‘that’s not possible’. I figured if you got hit by a train coming out of the station, it obviously wouldn’t be that fast and at worst you could break your leg. It’s the worst nightmare ever,” Phil Bentkowski said.
“It’s a safety issue, it’s 2024, I don’t understand why there are no safety signs saying ‘stop, look, listen’, it doesn’t make sense. She was thrown 15 metres.”
Now his family is fighting for better safety measures and searching for answers as to how this happened, finding a lack of signage and no security arms surrounding the station tracks.
Family and friends remembered Grace Bentkowski as a hard-working journalist with a bright future ahead of her.
“She was beautiful inside and out,” grandmother Maryann O’Neill told the local news outlet.
Footage of the incident showed Grace saw others crossing the tracks, but her view was obstructed by a large pillar.
Family and friends remembered Grace Bentkowski as a hard-working journalist with a bright future ahead of her.
“She knew what she wanted to do in life and that made headlines. (When asked about other schools) she said ‘no, it’s Ball State,’ that’s where I want to go. She was blessed in so many different ways.”
“She was a hard-working journalist and one of the hardest working. She managed to make a huge impact at 22 and I wish she could have been here longer,” her brother Adian Bentkowski said in a Twitter message. GoFundMe.
The Northern Indiana Passenger Transportation District, which operates the South Shore Line, said it believes the station is safe but will add temporary warning signs.
“We are contacting an engineering firm to determine what is needed to add active warning to pedestrian crossings,” the organizations said.
‘In the meantime, we are installing warning signage and, although not required by law, the South Shore Line will install a train whistle that will sound when trains approach crossings.’
