Brillhart

Amtrak conductor and Local 1933 member Amanda “Mandie” Brillhart has been in the hospital more than a month and continues to undergo surgeries after Florence, S.C., sheriff’s deputies said her husband, Charles Durell Nethercutt, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire in their home in September.
As a result of the attack, Brillhart received severe burns to her torso, arms, legs and feet and has had extensive surgeries.
Online fundraisers at GoFundMe.com are ongoing to help her family with medical costs.
In an update on GoFundMe posted Oct. 19, Brillhart’s mother, Annette Brillhart, said that Mandie, 27, the mother of a one-year-old son, was going to undergo her 12th surgery and was being kept in a sterile environment in intensive care.
“I cannot tell you how grateful that we as a family are for the support that you all have shown for her and us as well. I am reading all the wonderful thoughts and prayers for her and I am overwhelmed,” Annette posted on GoFundMe. “Please continue to pray for her and leave your well wishes on this site or you may send a card or letter of encouragement to our home.
“When she finally gets out of ICU, I can bring them to her and she can read them and get a better understanding of how much she means to people, even the ones she does not know.”
To contribute online, visit https://www.gofundme.com/yasvcw-support-for-mandie.
To send cards or letters, address them to:
Annette Brillhart
102 Red Coat Lane,
Columbia, SC 29223
Police tracked Nethercutt down in Yonkers, N.Y., and took him into custody in mid-November. He faces charges of attempted murder and others.
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Brillhart

Amtrak Conductor and Local 1933 member Amanda Brillhart is in critical condition after her husband, Charles Nethercutt, poured gasoline on her and set her on fire Sept. 19.
Brillhart, 27, has a one-year-old son. As a result of the attack, she has undergone extensive surgeries and is expected to be out of work for quite a while. Police are still searching for her husband.
A GoFundMe account has been set up by her co-workers to help with the financial burden that medical bills and being off work is causing.
Click here to donate.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help at 1-800-799-7233 or for the hearing impaired TTY 1-800-787-3224.
Visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline website at www.thehotline.org.
Click here to learn more about domestic violence.

BostonGlobe.com reported that John Sweeney, longtime Amtrak conductor and SMART TD Local 1462 member from Boston, Mass., successfully completed a 3,000 mile, coast-to-coast bicycle trek that he was suppose to embark on 41 years ago, and never did. Read the complete story here.
Stock photo courtesy of public domain.net.

David Pryor, Amtrak conductor and member of SMART TD Local 168, loves his job on the commuter rail and shared his sentiments and experiences in a recent interview with The Atlantic.   Not only does the job provide him with the opportunity to travel, he also noted that being on the railroad continually restores his faith in humanity.
“In my 27 years, I’ve seen people helping complete strangers. It lets you see the world from a different perspective. There are still a lot of wonderful people in this world,” Pryor stated to Associate Editor, Bourree Lam.  Read the complete article here.
 

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Picanco

Carl Picanco stares at the radio on a table across the aisle and when nothing happens, he checks his watch and then taps his iPhone and glances at his watch again.
He looks out a window. The brush and desert scrub stretch out in brown and green waves toward the foothills outside Vail in southeastern Arizona.
Read the complete story at the Arizona Republic.
Picanco is a member of SMART Transportation Division Local 84 at Los Angeles, Calif.