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Family says man charged in Chesterfield circus train crash has no memory of driving

Posted at 10:34 PM, Apr 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-20 23:15:03-04

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Teontrey Thomas, a Virginia State University student is still recovering at VCU Medical Center after a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Train slammed into his vehicle Tuesday.

According to his mom and sister, the 22-year-old college freshman has no memory of how his car got on the railroad tracks in southern Chesterfield. It took a direct hit from a train carrying circus animals and circus employees from South Carolina.

"My brother was hit by a train," said his sister Destyne Hawkins.

The question still remains, why was Thomas on the tracks off Dupuy Road?

Teontrey Thomas

Teontrey Thomas

"He doesn't remember anything at all," said Hawkins.

"I said, ‘Son, how did you get there?’ said his mother Nancy Bansylk. “He doesn't remember. He said he never left the house and woke up with shoulder pain here at the hospital."

What's even more bizarre is how family members say they found out. Teontrey lives with his sister Destiny. When she woke up Monday, she called her mom to say he was gone and that she didn't know where he went.

"I woke up and the door was unlocked,” Hawkins said. “His car wasn't there, so I texted mom."

Teontrey Thomas's car

Teontrey Thomas's car

His mom promptly hopped online.

"I was at work in Washington DC, and I went to the CBS Facebook page and I clicked on the story, and it said Teontrey Thomas and I was like, ‘That is my son.,’" said Bansylk.

Her son has a brain injury, a bum shoulder and a punctured lung but is expected to make a full recovery.

"I told him that he was charged and he was like, ‘For what?’ said Bansylk. “No one, as far as we know, explained anything to him.”

Chesterfield Police have charged Thomas with reckless driving. His sister has set up a GoFundMe page to help her brother with medical expenses.

He's expected to have weeks of therapy after leaving the hospital.

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