For Sandra LaRose, rail safety is more than a public awareness campaign. It is a mission born from unimaginable loss.

The Saskatchewan mother shared her family’s story during a Rail Safety Week webinar on Tuesday, reminding Canadians that a moment of distraction can have lifelong consequences. As harvest activity ramps up across the Prairies, she’s encouraging farmers, truck drivers and motorists to stay alert every time they approach a railway crossing.

The following article was written by Glenda-Lee Vossler with Swift Current Online. All of the photos are courtesy of Sandra LaRose. 

A Life Changed in an Instant

In 2018, LaRose’s 17-year-old daughter, Kailynn Bursic-Panchuk, was seriously injured when her vehicle was struck by a train near Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Kailynn was airlifted for medical care and fought for six days before ultimately succumbing to a closed brain injury.

LaRose said many people assume a collision involving a train would leave devastating visible injuries and extensive damage, but that wasn’t the case.

She noted her daughter’s vehicle was damaged enough to be written off, yet the injuries proved fatal despite there being few outward signs of trauma.

Distracted Driving Identified as Cause

Following Kailynn’s death, LaRose requested her daughter’s phone from police. It was then that she learned distracted driving had been identified as the cause of the collision.

According to information shared with the family, train crew members observed Kailynn looking down at her passenger seat moments before the collision. Because she was driving a standard transmission vehicle, she was not holding the phone in her hand.

On August 22, just one day after Kailynn’s 17th birthday her family honoured her wish to be an organ donor and she was taken off life support.

Turning Grief Into Purpose

Rather than allowing the tragedy to define her family, LaRose has chosen to use her daughter’s story to educate others.

Today she works as a rail safety ambassador and youth rail-safe driving consultant with Operation Lifesaver Canada.

Over the past several years, she has delivered rail safety presentations to more than 50,000 high school students across Canada, sharing the importance of staying focused behind the wheel and putting distractions away.

LaRose says every decision behind the wheel carries consequences, and putting the phone away can save a life.

The message is especially relevant for agricultural producers.

LaRose and her husband farm near Tyvan, Saskatchewan, where crossing railway tracks is part of everyday life. She said harvest season often brings long hours, stress, fatigue and the challenges of operating large equipment, all of which can contribute to lapses in attention.

She recalled a recent local incident where a farmer’s semi was struck by a train. While no one was injured, it served as another reminder that familiarity with a crossing can sometimes lead to complacency.

Many rural crossings are equipped only with crossbuck signs and do not have flashing lights or crossing arms, making it even more important for drivers to slow down, look carefully and listen for approaching trains.

No matter how many times a person has crossed the same railway tracks, they should never assume a train isn’t coming. Taking a few extra seconds to pay attention could mean the difference between life and death.

As combines roll and grain trucks fill rural roads this fall, LaRose hopes Kailynn’s story will encourage Canadians to put down their phones, eliminate distractions and make safety their first priority at every railway crossing.

“The train will always win,” says LaRose

LaRose continues to share her daughter’s story in hopes that other families never have to experience the loss hers did.

She’s taking that message to everyone, but is truly working to help educate youth noting her one hour present packs a punch.

She hopes students see themselves and/or their actions in her daughter, and in turn, by seeing and hearing about her loss the impact it could have on their parents.

LaRose passion and focus now is in helping others

She has spent the last number of years taking the message of rail safety to over 50,000 high school students across Canada.

More information on her presentation and speaking schedule can be found on her website or by emailing sandra@sandralarose.ca

“I do this to honor the memory of Kailynn and to ensure that everyone who may hear me speak, and who will share mine and Kailynn’s Story, will live a long fulfilling life.”