Mother of 19-year-old who died trying to save girlfriend on Boston subway tracks wants safety changes
The mother of the young man who was killed after falling onto the tracks at an MBTA station in Boston wants the agency to start improving safety.
Frankey Wright died when he fell onto the electrified third rail at the Forest Hills train station in Jamaica Plain on Saturday, Aug. 29. He was just 19 years old.
"When they told me it was my son Frankey, my youngest, it took all the air out of me," his mother, Antrell Clark, told WBZ-TV.
Clark said her son died trying to save his girlfriend who fell onto the tracks while they were on their way to the Caribbean festival that weekend.
"She fell and he jumped down to help her, and, I believe, landed on a third rail, which is the live rail," she said.
Transit Police called it a "horrific tragedy." Clark was not surprised her son sprang into action to save his girlfriend. She ended up in the hospital.
"I can honestly say she's a lovely girl. My son loved her. He loved her," Clark said. She will miss her son's smile, his hugs and the joy he brought to so many. Clark said Wright was full of life, wanted to help people and had a passion for fashion design.
"Frankey was very talented. He liked fashion. He loved working with the kids that he worked with autism," she said.
The MBTA is looking into getting protective barriers on platforms at stations, but it won't be anytime soon.
"After we get those submittals, we're going to review them and then we're going to look to put something out where we can investigate the opportunity to install (barriers). We haven't decided which station yet, but the opportunity to install some sort of protective barrier that adds an extra level of safety," MBTA general manager Phil Eng said last week.
"More safety measures need to be taken so this doesn't happen to anyone else. I believe my son would still be here if that was already in place," she said.
"My heart goes out to the Wright family. It is a tragedy," Eng said.
A memorial service for Wright will be held on Saturday, Sept. 12.
"The community has been wonderful, and I want to say thank you. I couldn't have done this by myself. I'm a woman who works and I live paycheck to paycheck. There would have been no way that I could have done half of the things that I'm allowed to do for my son, to send him away the way he deserves, and I just want to say thank you to everyone," she said.
