CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- Opening arguments and initial testimony began Tuesday in the case of a Douglas County teen and Union Pacific Railroad.

Missy Martin's parents are suing the railroad for injuries she suffered in an accident in 2002.

Martin, then 16, was on her way to school when her car stalled on the railroad tracks on Fifth and Front streets in Castle Rock. Her boyfriend at the time, who was driving in a white pickup truck behind her, tried to ram Martin's stalled car off the tracks with his vehicle but it didn't work.

A freight train slammed into her car and pushed it almost 90 feet. She was in a coma for several months.

Martin's former boyfriend, 19-year-old Vinny Veruchi, was the first to testify in the civil trial. Now a U.S. Marine, Veruchi recalled seeing Martin's car stall on the tracks. He said he tried to help but couldn't get her car across the tracks. He said when her car stalled, the crossing guard came down on the back of Martin's car.

"I knew the (train) was getting real close," he testified.

Veruchi called the entire experience surreal.

He hustled out of the courtroom after his testimony, only saying that he "felt very good" about his testimony.

Attorneys for the railroad company argued that Martin would have been OK if not for Veruchi's action. They claim that her car was not on the tracks -- and that Veruchi's truck pushed Martin's vehicle into the path of the oncoming train.

An engineer on the train testified that he saw Martin's car but didn't apply brakes because the vehicle was not on the tracks. He said once the car was pushed onto the tracks, he attempted to stop. Martin's car was struck squarely by the train.

Union Pacific says that it was not to blame and that Martin's car simply couldn't be avoided when it was on the tracks.

The Martin family claims that Union Pacific was responsible for the accident. They say the train was going too fast for the area and that the railroad crossing was unsafe.

Martin, a former high school cheerleader, now walks with a cane and will still need to undergo extensive physical therapy. Her family is seeking compensation for her injuries.