CLEBURNE, Texas – A rail yard worker who lost his legs when a train ran him over used a mobile phone to report that he was trapped and had been "cut in two."
Truman Duncan, 36, remained in critical condition Wednesday at a Fort Worth hospital after the Sunday accident at the Gunderson Southwest rail yard in Cleburne.
In a tape of the call to emergency services, Duncan tells the operator, "I need 911... I think I'm cut in two."
"Someone got run over?" the operator asks.
"It was me," Duncan responds. "I guess I'm going into shock. Hurry up, ma'am, because I'm about to pass out."
Duncan and a co-worker were attempting to connect railcars when the accident occurred, according to a police report. Duncan may have been attempting to cross the tracks and was hit by the train, or he could have fallen from a car and been pulled under, police said.
Duncan's call was followed by reports from other workers, police said.
It took rescue workers about an hour to find Duncan and free him from the tracks. One leg was caught between a steel wheel and brake and the other leg was caught on wheel and axle parts.
Health and safety authorities were investigating the accident in Cleburne, 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Dallas.
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