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‘It’s a Miracle’ – Child in car seat unhurt after collision with train

Posted at 1:30 PM, Mar 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-14 15:30:27-04

AVOCA, Pa. - Three-year-old Camden Davis is a happy child who loves Scoobie Doo and singing. He is alive despite a terrifying crash on the train tracks.

It happened in Avoca, Pennsylvania around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday. His mom Mikayla Davis was driving and her sister Jenna was in the passenger seat.

"I blacked out. You really do black out. All I remember is trying to get him out, and when the train took the car, I blacked out. I blacked out completely. I'm thinking my son is dead,” Mikayla told WNEP.

Mikayla says she drove onto the tracks when the railroad gates seemed to malfunction.

The one ahead of her vehicle came down, and a train was bearing down on them.

"I said, 'Back up! Reverse!' She reversed. The back gate was already down, so we bumped it a little bit, and I said, ‘We need to get out right now,’” said Jenna Davis.

Jenna and Mikayla got out, rushing to free her son who was belted in the back. Mikayla tripped and fell to the ground.

“We don't care if we die at this point. Just him, we want him to be OK,” said Mikayla Davis.

Jenna yanked the back door open, but it was too late. With the door open, the train hit the vehicle with little Camden still inside.

"I was afraid to look because I thought the car was going to be on fire or something, and my 3-year-old is in there, and my sister said, 'He's crying. Go get him.' And I saw him alive. I was just so happy. I was so happy,” said Mikayla.

"We didn't expect to hear him cry. That was the best sound in the world. She went over, and she got him, and that's when I called 911."

Rescue crews say the child seat saved Camden's life, calling the fact that he was completely uninjured "a miracle."

"They had somebody with them. There's no doubt after seeing that car that somebody was with them,” said Camden’s grandmother Maureen Davis.

"I can't stop hugging and kissing him. Like all day, I just kept hugging and kissing him. He really is my world,” said Mikayla.

Avoca and railroad police are investigating what led to the crash.