Odessa American
ABILENE — Jason Self is thankful to be alive after a Jan. 14 bus-train collision that left him critically injured.
Self, a correctional officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, said he has no memories of the crash, which occurred when a prison bus taking inmates from the Middleton Unit in Abilene to Sanchez State Jail in El Paso skidded off an icy road near Odessa and slid down an embankment into the path of an oncoming freight train.
Two of Self’s colleagues — Middleton correctional officers Christopher Davis and Eligio Garcia Jr. — were killed, along with eight of the 12 inmates on the bus.
The Abilene Reporter-News reports Self, of Baird, discussed his continuing recovery Tuesday during the 16th annual TDCJ Fallen Officers Memorial Ceremony at the Middleton Unit.
“I have no recollection of the accident, and almost nothing about that day,” said the nearly 19-year veteran correctional officer.
Self said it’s “somewhat aggravating” to be unable to recall the events of the day, or the aftermath of the crash, noting that he still has significant short-term memory issues.