By Geena Martinez
NewsWest 9
MIDLAND - As the community mourns the victims lost in the tragic train crash, thoughts and prayers are also being sent to those who survived.
What was supposed to be a celebration turned into a nightmare Thursday afternoon.
"It was a devastating scene, it was a horrible scene," Dr. Sudip Bose, said. "For it to end like this is just tragic."
Witnesses described people scrambling to jump off the Hunt for Heroes parade float as a train was fast approaching.
Bose volunteers with the organization to provide medical support so he was one of the first on the scene.
Bose, who's also a veteran, said the crash site reminded him of combat.
"It was a chaotic scene, gruesome at times," he said. "You don't wanna be tying tourniquets and stopping bleeding vessels in the middle of the street here."
But the heroes in the war zone sprang into action.
"All the veterans here who were involved in the parade, their training kicked in and they were actually helping each other before the paramedics got on the scene," Dr. Bose said.
Now as the community grieves the four veterans lost, focus is shifting to the 16 survivors and so many more who watched the tragedy unfold.
"A lot of this was just providing support for the people in the vicinity who saw some horrible things yesterday," Dr. Bose said. "You know maybe not a scratch or an abrasion on their body but they had mental abrasions."
