Credit: Reddit & ABC News

Girl Takes Final Photo Of Friend Just Minutes Before He’s Pronounced Dead

The photo captured a moment just minutes before the 16-year-old boy passed away.

John DeReggi, 16, was posing for what would become his final photo with his girlfriend just moments before tragedy struck.

The teenagers were taking part in a photography class project, which required them to capture moments that reflected ‘youth and the pathway yet to come.’

The snaps were intended to be ‘inspirational,’ but neither John, his girlfriend, nor her twin sister, could have predicted what would come next.

The budding photographers decided to shoot the images for their 2015 module on railroad tracks in rural Maryland, U.S.

But while John and his partner were fooling around with the camera, a train came hurtling towards them at speeds upwards of 70mph.

Speaking to ABC News, the young boy’s mom, Christine DeReggi, said: “He loved a thrill.

“He wasn’t reckless but he definitely loved adventure.

“He loved to laugh. He loved to be a little bit scared.”

Christine received the news of her son’s death as his traumatised girlfriend screamed on a heartbreaking phone call.

But despite the tragedy, Christine is able to hold onto the beauty of his final moments.

She added: “The moments before my son died are beautiful.

“He’s at peace and he’s happy. You can see it’s just them doing a sweet project together.”

But how were the girl’s able to survive the accident?

According to them, the wind from the train forced the two girls back.

But the 200-ton train crushed John as he tried to jump out of the way.

His mom added: “They just escaped.

“I mean, it was almost a triple tragedy… they saw it and it happened so quick they almost got sucked in. That’s how close they were.

“The train apparently is much wider than the tracks and I don’t know how far he jumped to try and clear it but he didn’t clear it.”

Christine also shared a moment with her son just prior to the tragedy that she will hold close forever.

The 16-year-old told his mom ‘I love you’ before heading out.

But twenty minutes later, her phone buzzed with devastating news.

Despite train track photoshoots becoming a trend in recent years, railroad engineers told ABC News following this tragedy that there is no safe way to take rail pictures.

They noted that the roar of the engine follows the train, and that the sound is surprisingly quiet as it speeds toward you.

The tracks are also narrower than the trains, making it hard to judge safe clearance.

It can also take anywhere between one and two minutes for the emergency brake to fully stop, meaning it could be very easily far too late to save a life.

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