Crewmembers from "The Vampire Diaries" will walk in a 5K in honor of Sarah Jones, a camera assistant who was hit and killed by a train in February during filming of “Midnight Rider.”
The 5K walkathon will be held in Atlanta on Oct. 5, and will
involve members of Jones’ family and crews from "Vampire Diaries" and "The Originals," Variety reported.
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Jones had worked on "The Vampire Diaries" before the filming of "Midnight Rider."
Her death has pushed the film industry to reconsider safety standards, and many in Hollywood have held vigils for her.
Monday would have been Jones’ 28th birthday, according to a
Twitter site set up in her honor called "Slates for Sarah."
The goal for the walkathon is $50,000, which will be used by the Sarah Jones Film Foundation to work for safety on film sets, to
provide scholarships, and to fund social media outreach, The Hollywood Reporter said.
Jones’ death led to an “industrywide reckoning on safety standards,” and
THR ran an in-depth recreation of the accident in March.
THR spoke with Joyce Hilliard, a hairstylist who was on set with Jones and who was also injured by the train, about what happened. The movie, which stars William Hurt, was shooting a dream sequence that took place on a train trestle. Hilliard told THR that the crew was told they would have 60 seconds to get off the tracks if a train came.
“Everybody on the crew was tripping over that,” Gilliard told THR. “A minute? Are you serious?”
A train did come, and Hilliard and Jones took refuge on a narrow gangplank, Hilliard told THR; Hilliard's arm was broken as she held onto a steel girder and wind almost swept her over the side.
Hilliard told THR that she wasn’t sure what happened to Jones, but speculation has indicated debris may have hit her and thrown her into the train. Four other people were also injured.
Jones’ family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the movie’s producers and other parties.
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