Woman recovering from train accident

It has been a long week for Teresa Campbell, who sustained multiple injuries in a train accident in Trout Creek - but the long road to recovery ahead is what she is focused on.

"I've had four surgeries on my left hand to amputate above the wrist," she shared with The Ledger on Tuesday, "a gash on my leg is healing well, but my three cracked ribs and bruised lung will take longer to heal."

Campbell may be released from Kootenai Medical Center this week and will be on oxygen, as she is not yet able to breathe on her own. In two weeks, stitches should be removed from her arm.

In the present, Campbell said she has a lot of ups and downs, "These injuries are scary. I'm trying to be strong and I have faith in myself, but this is a lot to handle all at once." As for the future, Campbell's outlook is refreshingly positive. "Its not every day you get hit by a train and survive. There's a reason I was spared, I need to find what that reason is and live it," shared Campbell, "I'm not ready to retire at 55, my life isn't over. I need to get started on my new life ahead – whatever that may be."

Since the accident, witnesses who arrived at the scene have given her a clearer picture as to what happened, since she doesn't remember much of it. Campbell left her home in her pickup, heading across the South Hill railroad tracks. She noted the road had just been plowed, and in the dark, confused by the plow trails, she turned too early. "I was stuck on the tracks, so I put it in four-wheel drive and was able to get off the tracks after a while – but there was a snow bank in the way so there was really nowhere to go," she recalled. And that was when she heard the train coming. She exited the vehicle, just in case, to let the train pass but the truck was sticking out just far enough that the train clipped it. "The impact threw the truck at me, which threw me under the train. I must have tried to grab the rail with my left hand," Campbell remembered.

She was told that Ron Sorlie and his girlfriend Tracy Langdon were the first to respond. Langdon told the Ledger that they had heard screams and went out to find Campbell. They waited with her until first responders arrived. The only moments she really remembered was crawling back to her truck, wondering "what the heck is on my hand?" and a few flashes during the helicopter ride to the hospital (the Ledger's original report was incorrect about her transport, she was actually helicoptered to Kootenai Medical Center). The unshakeable memory was the pain.

"There was so much pain, I couldn't believe it," Campbell shared.

Now that the flurry of events is over, Campbell is looking to the future. She contemplated staying with friends or family upon returning, but the thought of being waited on hand and foot doesn't appeal to her, "That is not what my life in the future will look like, and that's not what I want to do," she explained, "I have so many friends checking on me already, I think I'll be able to get by at home and call for help with laundry or whatever if I need it. I just want to get this new life started."

Campbell does not have medical insurance. Friends and concerned neighbors have been calling Teresa, asking if there is a benefit set. Campbell said that is not something she would know anything about. Numerous friends have offered to help, and a Go Fund Me page has been set up to gather donations.