A horrific incident unfolded in September 2015, when a teenager was killed by an Amtrak train while posing for photos with his girlfriend and her twin sister on railroad tracks in rural Maryland.
The trio had been taking part in a photography class project with the theme "youth and the pathway yet to come," which led them to the tracks for what would be 16-year-old John DeReggi's final moments.
As DeReggi danced and played for the camera, his girlfriend and her sister, who was acting as the photographer, were unaware of the impending danger.
An Amtrak train, traveling at speeds of over 70mph, came barreling towards them. The two girls were pushed back by the wind from the speeding locomotive, but DeReggi, who tried to jump out of the way, was tragically struck and killed.
His mother, Christine DeReggi, shared the heartbreaking details of her son’s death with ABC News.
"He loved a thrill," she said. "He wasn't reckless, but he definitely loved adventure. He loved to laugh. He loved to be a little bit scared."
She received the news of her son's death from his girlfriend, who had tragically witnessed the event. “It was almost a triple tragedy… They saw it, and it happened so quickly they almost got sucked in. That’s how close they were,” Christine recalled.
The photographs taken in DeReggi's final moments, which showed the teens laughing and bonding, are now bittersweet memories for his family.
"The moments before my son died are beautiful," Christine said. "He's at peace and he's happy. You can see it's just them doing a sweet project together."
In a similar case in October 2011, three teenagers - 13-year-old Savannah Webster and her older sister Kelsea, 15, along with 15-year-old Essa Ricker - were tragically killed when they attempted to take a photo by a train in Utah's Spanish Fork Canyon.
Just before the tragedy, Savannah had posted a picture on Facebook, showing herself and her friends grinning as a westbound train passed by. The caption read: "Standing right by a train ahaha this is awesome!!!!"
The teens' excitement was clear, but they had no idea that another train was approaching from the opposite direction, its headlights visible in the top-left corner of their selfie.
“They were in their own little world,” recalled John Anderson, the conductor of the eastbound Union Pacific train. He and engineer Michael Anderson (who coincidentally share the same last name but are not related) desperately sounded the train’s horn in an attempt to get the girls’ attention.
Unfortunately, the teenagers, focused on their photo, didn’t react. "We watched in horror as we got closer," John explained. “We saw them for about 12 seconds until they disappeared from our sight and the train continued moving forward.”
The two 15-year-olds died instantly, while 13-year-old Savannah was severely injured but still alive. She passed away three days later in the hospital from over a dozen broken bones, internal bleeding, and a severe brain injury.