California teenager dies after saving girlfriend from oncoming train

 Mickayla Friend, 16, of Marysville, is in critical condition after she and her boyfriend were hit by a train on the way to a school dance. Witnesses said her boyfriend made the split-second decision to save Mickayla instead of himself as the train bore down on them.

Facebook Mickayla Friend (left) and Mateus Moore were on their way to a dance when they were hit by a train. Moore was able to push Friend out of the way, but died after being hit.

A young man died while trying to save his first love's life as a train came barreling down on them while they were on their way to a school dance.
The girl is now in a hospital fighting to hold onto the life her boyfriend gave everything to save.
The family of 16-year-old Mickayla Friend said she and her boyfriend were planning to attend a Sadie Hawkins Day dance at their high school in Marysville, Calif., when they walked toward a store on the tracks.

"It's her first boyfriend and her first love....And she just got it taken away from her in an instant."

A train approached traveling in the same direction as the two teenagers and they were unable to move out of the way in time, TV station KCRA reports.
At the last moment Mickayla's boyfriend — whose name has not been released by authorities but has been identified on Facebook as Mateus Moore — pushed her out of the way. He was killed at the scene. His girlfriend is in critical condition at a local hospital.

Emergency personnel work at the scene of a train accident where two pedestrians were hit near Earle Yorton Field Friday in Marysville, Calif. 

 

"It's her first boyfriend and her first love," Alithya Friend, Mickayla's sister, told the station. "And she just got it taken away from her in an instant."
Authorities told the station the conductor blew the horn and activated the emergency brakes, but the train did not stop in time.

"You can't imagine getting the worst call in your life, knowing that you just dropped your sister off to go to a dance that was supposed to be a special, amazing night for her and her boyfriend of a year," Alithya Friend told the station. "And then you get a call that says he's deceased and she's in critical condition."
The accident occurred near a crowded park and many onlookers rushed over to try and save the two teenagers.
"The engineer was on the horn. … Then finally, they both looked back at the same time," witness Sean Stark told the station. "They would have both been underneath that train if he didn't push her out of the way at the last second."