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By Jon Tatting
editor.countynews@ecm-inc.com
Sharon Atchley, of Cambridge, says her son always put his friends and family before himself and often applied his many skills as a handyman to help and bring joy to others.
He was working on a two-story playhouse, a job he wouldn’t walk away from, for his nephews and nieces. He just bought a motorcycle and looked forward to this new interest.
However, Shad Atchley also had a dark side—one involving alcoholism, which his mother believes played a major role in the train collision that took his life early Friday morning, June 19 in Cambridge.
During an interview Monday morning, June 22, Sharon said Shad had left home around 8:30 p.m. Thursday night for a bite to eat before hanging out with friends at one of Cambridge’s popular night spots. The evening continued at a friend’s house where the drinking continued.
Though Mom and his sisters didn’t care for this group of friends, Sharon recognizes it was Shad’s choice. It was not uncommon for him to walk the railroad tracks home after a night of drinking. The route served as a short cut and helped him from getting lost along the way.
“Shad’s death is a horrible, private thing for the family, but also a horrible, alcohol-involved accident,” Sharon said. “I hope this (story) can prevent another alcohol-related death and wake people up.”
Pictured: Shawna Atchley displays a cross made by family in honor of her brother Shad who passed away on Friday, June 19. (Photo by Jon Tatting)
She also addressed a community rumor that her son had taken his own life.
“I don’t believe it was suicide. Nobody in the family or close to the family believes that. He had too many plans. He never talked about suicide; he was never severely depressed other than the bad days we all have.
“He loved life. There was never any indication of something different. He had too much to live for to end his life,” she added.
Though an official police report has yet to be finalized, Sharon believes exhaustion and alcohol or perhaps a fall on his head are likely factors in the fatal collision.
“When I heard the news, I knew he tripped and fell. In my heart I knew that was what happened,” she said.
Soon after the northbound 64-car train passed the Hwy. 95 crossing through town, the engineer (later telling Cambridge Police) thought he saw a sack of garbage laying on the tracks and began sounding the train’s horn numerous times in case it was something else, Sharon recalled.
Turns out, it had been Shad, curled on his side and nestled between the rails near the business/industrial district along Emerson Street North. The engineer noted he never flinched to the train’s horn.
Shad also had his knee bent slightly upward, high enough to catch the train and succumb to the impact. Had he been laying flat, noted Sharon of the engineer’s report to the investigating officer, the train may have missed him completely due to the gap between the train’s bottom and ground level.
Sharon left for work around 6:25 that morning and knew something bad had happened when she noticed Isanti County Safety and Rescue was directing traffic at 11th Avenue and South Main Street.
But she didn’t think anything of it, since there were no sirens or other emergency crews around. Some three hours later, a Cambridge police officer arrived at her work with the news.
Sharon said her daughters have visited the site of impact a number of times since the collision. Mom believes it’s been therapeutic for them.
And they’ve noticed people—not known to the family—have placed flowers and a note (indicating they, too, lost a loved one to a train collision) at the site.
Meanwhile, Shad’s sisters (Shawna, Shavone, Shawntel, Shalea, Shadow and Sharri) as well as other family members have created a cross with signatures in Shad’s honor. They may post it near the site where Shad had been struck.
Shad was generous, enjoyed life with his sisters, nieces and nephews. He had many side jobs and was talented in landscaping and building.
He was employed as a truck driver for B & B Hoffman Sod in Elk River for several years.
“He never wanted to hurt anyone’s feelings. He had trouble telling people ‘no,’” Sharon said of her son’s compassion for others.
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