COLUMBIANA COUNTY Detective to nominate teen who rescued girl

Even though she heard a train approaching, the teen-ager ventured onto a trestle to save a little girl.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALINEVILLE -- Hero is a term that's freely used, but a Columbiana County Sheriff's Department detective believes a village girl genuinely qualifies as one and is taking steps to see that she's recognized.
Sgt. Alan Young said today that he's nominating Shannon Buckley, 15, for the prestigious Carnegie Medal that honors those who risk their lives to save others.
What happened: Shannon qualifies based on her actions Friday in saving a 5-year-old girl who was trapped on a 100-foot-long train trestle nearly 15 feet above a swollen creek, Young said.
Alexandria Woodburn had wandered away from the yard of her Lincoln Street home around 3 p.m.
The girl walked onto train tracks about a mile away and entered a trestle over the North Fork of Yellow Creek. As she was walking on the trestle, Alexandria apparently fell through the gap between the ties, where she became lodged by her head above the water.
Shannon heard the child's cries and found her stuck on the trestle.
At the same time, Shannon heard an approaching train. There are two sets of tracks at that spot, and Shannon wasn't sure which one the train was on.
Went onto trestle: Despite not knowing, Shannon ventured onto the trestle and tugged Alexandria out from between the ties, Young said.
Meanwhile, the train reached the trestle, where it made an emergency stop. It was traveling on the other set of tracks.
"Thank God the train was on the other side," Young said. "We would have had a double fatality."
Instead, Alexandria suffered only a few scrapes and was returned safely to her mother, Tracy Woodburn.
Woodburn was outside with her daughter when she left their yard. Young said the mother had only turned away for a few moments when the child disappeared.
Woodburn immediately formed a search party, but Shannon wasn't part of it.