Boy killed by train remembered as a standout soccer player
Eli Medrano, the Weyanoke Elementary School second-grader killed in a train crash on June 5, is remembered for his “larger than life personality, terrific sense of humor, and a smile that could light up the room.”
That quote is from a GoFundMe page set up by soccer coach Ben Sprague on behalf of Jeffrey Medrano.
Eli was walking with his mother, Yeraldin Pardo, 28, of Lincolnia, and Diego Arriaza, 28, of Annandale, on the trestle over Lake Accotink Park when Arriaza was struck and killed by a freight train. Pardo and her son fell to their deaths onto the creek bank below.
Related story: Train crash victims identified
Eli was a standout player, as both an attacking wing and unstoppable goalie on the Alexandria Soccer Association’s U9 Red Team, Sprague wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“Yeraldin, his kind and loving mom, was there by his side to support him at every game – loudly cheering every tackle, goal, and save. Eli was a soccer fanatic and an absolute joy to watch on the field, always smiling, uplifting, and supporting his teammates,” Sprague wrote. “He was truly a light in this world and we will all miss him terribly both on and off the field.”
“As Eli and Yeraldin’s family deals with this unspeakable tragedy, we are asking for your prayers and any support you can provide to help them during this most difficult time,” the GoFundMe page states. The page has already raised $41,575.
17 responses to “Boy killed by train remembered as a standout soccer player”
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It is a terrible shame that this young, innocent child had to pass because his parents were so stupid and careless. Why on earth were they walking on this elevated train track?
Leave it as “Its a terrible shame that this young, innocent child passed.” This is like last year when a young child of the same age died in a home fire that went to Sleepy Hollow and commentators started blaming the conditions, etc.
I dare you to go to the funeral of these kids and start uttering this blame bullshit in front of their grieving families. Having been to last year’s ceremony from sleepy hollow, I can tell you the grief for a child lost too soon is unimaginably and inconsolably heavy.
If you wouldn’t say it there, maybe you should keep your damn mouth shut online too. Absolutely disgusting.
Get over yourself, it is perfectly fine to be heartbroken for the loss of a child who was put in a terrible situation by his mother/parents. If someone didn’t question why this happened (assuming the story is accurate), I’d wonder what kind of person they are. This was preventable.
I can’t help but feel that the parents wanted to take a “cool photo” on dangerous train tracks but also put the kid in danger makes me super upset. They should have never went up there and the signs also tell you not to. So I also do agree with Dawna here.
Thank you, sir. Well said.
Why they were up there got posted to the Mom’s Instagram page. I don’t think it’s leaked yet though.
Well, what was the reason? And why would it be a “leak” for you to tell us?
Please enlighten us?
unfortunately the photo of the boy on the tracks was on the news. A sad situation all the way around; totally preventable.
If you don’t have nothing good to say, don’t say it, because you don’t know what they were going through, and how dare you call the mom stupid, you probably don’t even know the girl. You have no right to be so rude about it. I personally met the girl and saw her like about 3-4 times, and she is an outstanding mother to her son, and yes I also don’t agree with the idea of her taking her son, but you never know what she was going through, so please don’t be rude and childish about it, thank you.
I remember seeing this young boy as a right wing on the U9 team. A real soccer standout and an inspiration to his teammates. Fast, nimble, and as strong as a freight train.
Thank you for sharing Habo
People make mistakes, sometimes tragically. That is the human condition. It is incredibly sad that this family was destroyed; as Jeff said, now is the time for comfort and caring, not judgment.
This is really upseting and sad to me because of how close i was to him. its not like we were best friends or even friends but we still had many converstions and laughs with eachother. he really broght joy to any room he was in and its so sad knowing that he is no longer with us. His mom also seemed so sweet and took great care of him. to know that both of them are now gone is just so much.
People make mistakes? parents acted stupid – now they are dead – and unlike progressives that think 8 year olds are mature enough to make a decision change their sex – this 8 years old kid didn’t have a chance with stupid parents
This is incredibly heartbreaking and I’ve been thinking about this a lot in the past few weeks. All of us have made a mistakes in our lives before. It’s just unfortunate that this mistake was fatal for this mother and son. Let this be a lesson to everyone else to never walk on train tracks.
Please don’t leave me alone, Eli. You are my only GOATED, close, incredible, fantastic, welcoming best friend. You will always be in my heart. R.I.P. Eli.😭😭🕯️🕯️💔💔