PLANT CITY, Fla. — The sole survivor of a deadly train crash in Plant City over the weekend appears to be showing signs of improvement in the hospital.
On Monday, the aunt of 23-year-old Guillermo Gama said he was able to squeeze her hand. This is a tremendous step for Gama who was badly injured when the SUV he was in collided with a train on Saturday that six people.
Gama is at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center fighting for his life. On Monday, family members told 10 Tampa Bay it doesn't appear he will need brain surgery.
Chief Joseph Maurer with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office gave an update Monday that Gama has a brain bleed, ruptured kidney and bruised lung.
Saturday night was supposed to be a celebration inside a barn in Plant City but ended in tragedy along Jim Lefler Circle.
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Jose Hernandez was driving with Gama, Enedelia Hernandez, Jakub A. Lopez, Alyssa Hernandez, Anaelia Hernandez and Julian Hernandez in the other seats.
Chronister said the Cadillac Escalade slowly crawled across the tracks without stopping and then a CSX train collided with the SUV.
"This is something that has hurt many, many people in Plant City," said Elizabeth Aguilar, a family friend and community leader. The families have set up fundraisers. Aguilar explained the fundraiser for Gama will be used for medical expenses.
"They need our love and our support. For the families that are grieving, we need to help them through these tough times," Aguilar said.
The sheriff’s office explained they’re investigating why the SUV crossed the tracks.
A former Amtrak and CSX conductor said depending on where the train is, it's sometimes impossible for the train to stop.
"You just don’t apply the brakes like a car. To slow the train down at 55 mph, it takes time," Mike Callanan said.
This railroad track where the accident happened doesn’t have safety arms because Callanan said it’s a private road and CSX isn’t required to install them.
"The flashing lights, the bells are expensive to install. Honestly, it’s all about money," Callanan added.
Callanan estimated that installing safety arms is tens of thousands of dollars and then there’s the cost of the material and maintenance.
Some say you can’t put a cost on life.
"I think if they do change the measurements here, it will make a difference, it will save lives," Aguilar said.
10 Tampa Bay reached out to FDOT and CSX to see what it would take to install safety measures where the crash happened.
A spokesperson for CSX said, "Determination of whether active warning devices are installed is made by the local authorities."
The statement continued to read, "In our view, closing crossings is the best way to improve public safety because that eliminates the risk of crossing collisions altogether. In fact, we’ve been actively working to reduce crossings across our network since the Federal Railroad Administration challenged all railroads to reduce the number of at-grade crossings by 25%. CSX is constantly working to improve safety on our railroad and reducing the number of grade crossings on our network is a primary example of that effort."