blahTuesday, March 14, 2006; Posted: 9:27 a.m. EST (14:27 GMT)
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- The reigning Miss Deaf Texas died after being struck by a train, officials said.
Tara Rose McAvoy, 18, was walking Monday near railroad tracks when she was struck by a Union Pacific train, authorities said.
A witness told Austin television station KTBC the train sounded its horn right up until the accident occurred.
McAvoy, who had been deaf since birth, won the state title in June and represented the state "with dignity and pride," state pageant director Laura Loeb-Hill told The Associated Press via e-mail Monday night.
McAvoy was to represent Texas at the Miss Deaf America pageant this summer, Loeb-Hill said.
Man, sometimes you really have to wonder if God is off somewhere just snickering to himself. You always find people who are saying they didn't hear the horns when they get their cars clipped by trains but I'm pretty sure we can believe that she didn't hear it coming. It was idiocy anyway. It's like a blind person trying to cross 8-lanes of highway traffic.
