One year later: Train accident survivor speaks

SPRINGFIELD TWP. (WTVG) -- It was the moment when everything changed forever.

Two Springfield high school students, running late to school, try to beat a fast-moving train. Neither made it across the tracks.

Now, one year to the day later, their families sat down with 13abc.

Brianna Mullinger, 17, tries not cry as she talks about her best friend, Cody Brown. "He was the most loyal honest friend, in the world. We never fought. I'm not even going to look for someone else like him 'cause there is no one else out there."

After the accident, Bri was in hospital for three weeks with a shattered pelvis, broken hips and a severe leg injury that resulted in amputation. Cody was killed instantly.

Cody's parents told us, "It will never go away. You just learn to accept it a little bit. That's all we can do."
Jeff and Jodi Brown visit Cody's gravesite frequently, where they often run into some of Cody's many friends and find keepsakes they leave behind.

In October, Cody's friends and family held a memorial run in his honor. Because Cody was a baseball player, his family chose to donate all of the money raised to the high school's baseball program.
As for Bri, she says she feels good, but needs another surgery and through fundraisers, her family is still trying to raise money for a prosthetic leg.

Bri's mother Teri says, "Without insurance, it's around $50,000 for the kind of leg she wants, the kind appropriate for a young person."

All say they constantly think about that tragic day one year ago, but they're working on getting back to a normal way of life and say they're getting closer everyday.

The Ohio department of transportation is now closer than ever when it comes to building a way for vehicles to travel over those tracks on McCord road and possibly a safer way for pedestrians.

Although $13.3 million has been designated for that railroad grade separation project, it could take several years before it's complete.

Story provided by: abclocal.go.com