A man is lucky to be alive after being ran over by a train while sleeping on the tracks.
On August 26, 2024 at 9:37 PM, fire responded to the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks between Huron and Miller.
Firefighters arrived to find a 20-year-old male patient who had been sleeping on the tracks when a north bound AARR freight train ran over him.
The train was traveling at a very slow speed and was able to stop within a relatively short distance. The patient’s left hand was entangled in the rear axle of the lead locomotive.
The hand was pinned between the wheel, axle, and wear gear. The patient was laying in between the rails under the locomotive. The hand injury was the only major trauma, officials said.
Due to the patient’s location combined with strength of the metal of this part of the locomotive, extrication efforts were incredibly challenging, officials said.
As the incident approached the one-hour mark, AAPD drove out the flight crew from Survival Flight along with a surgical team from U-M Dept of Surgery in preparation for a possible field amputation. At the 110-minute mark, extrication was successful.
The patient was transported by HVA to U-M Hospital in stable condition.
“This was a once in career incident for those involved. Normally, person versus train incidents are fatal. This was a true team effort,” fire officials said.
