Man sleeping on tracks ran over by Ann Arbor train, almost loses arm

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (FOX 2) - A 20-year-old man was sleeping on railroad tracks in Ann Arbor when he got trapped underneath a freight train, and his left hand was almost amputated. 

"This is a once in a career event. This isn’t anything we could train for," said Ann Arbor Fire Chief Mike Kennedy. 

The man's hand was caught deep in between the wheel, axle, and part of the motor. The incident took place near North First Street and Miller Avenue at 9:37 p.m on Monday. 

The freight train was moving slowly –at about 15 mph– when it struck the man, and was able to stop shortly after. However, the rescue effort was difficult due to the location and the strength of the metal. 

"There was limited access, and all of that is really significant metal, so a lot of our normal tools and techniques don’t work for something that extraordinary," Kennedy told FOX 2.

The fire chief said he had never seen anything like it. Alcohol is believed to have been a factor.

The man survived, but it took a huge team of firefighters, ambulance crews and other first responders to successfully rescue him from beneath the train.

"There’s no lifting that locomotive," Kennedy said.

Adding to the difficulty of the rescue, the incident occurred at the top of a steep hill. Firefighters had to use ladders just to get up to the tracks.

A 20-year-old man was struck by a train as he slept on tracks on a steep hill in Ann Arbor.

"Had it been at street level, it still would’ve been complicated; this made it much more complicated," Kennedy said.

After one hour of attempting to remove the man's hand from where it was stuck, a University of Michigan surgery team was flown to the scene via helicopter to potentially amputate his hand.

But with the help of a hydraulic ram, first responders freed the man’s hand without amputation. He was rushed to U of M hospital where he is expected to recover.

Rescue crews work to free a man after his hand got stuck in a train wheel. (Photo: Ann Arbor Fire Department)

The entire rescue took nearly two hours.

"We could replicate this exact scenario probably 1,000 times and not have the same outcome. He should buy some lotto tickets. Some higher power was looking out for him," Kennedy said. However, "we can’t urge it enough – do not go on train tracks."