Debbie Dixon and The CPR Bridge Incident in Carleton Place–Linda’s Mailbag

 

 

Yesterday I got this email:

I am/was Debbie Dixon. My married name is Barrie and I go by Deborah Elaine Barrie now. I am a writer and an activist who helped bring in a ban or phase-out on cca treated wood in over thirty countries.
I was very surprised to learn of your article:

What Happened on the CPR Railway Bridge?

While some of the details ( files were from newspaper (Ottawa Journal) archives) are certainly correct, I did not break my leg but I had several injuries some of which I have never recovered from.

I had a concussion and a fractured skull and two chips knocked from my spine. I also had two broken bones in my right arm and a brachial plexus injury in my right arm/shoulder which cost me most of the use of the upperarm and all of the use of my forearm and hand. It never grew after that date and my cousin who found this article named it Tiny to which my family still fondly refers to it. The injury to the arm went on to save my life but that is another story being written about in my biography.

My sister, Karen, did only receive a scratch and a bruise. Karen had her shoe caught in the tracks that day. I was ahead of her and Maureen was ahead of me. When the train came I went back and freed Karen’s foot and pushed her off the bridge. I froze and did not jump.
Maureen happily did escape uninjured. I still remember her screams as she ran and jumped to safety.

I am married to a retired CP railroad engineer but he was not one when we married. What do you think Freud would say about that? The story of the train accident has been written many times including a piece in the National Enquirer but I have never seen it written with the facts straight yet. The Enquirer wrote it with my arm going to recover. I am not sure where your research came from ( Ottawa Journal)  but likely from one or more of the incorrect articles so I thought you might like to hear from me.

Thanks for taking an interest in our story. Of course there is much more to the story including why we were there. Karen and I had never been there before.

Take care and please keep safe.
Deborah