11-Year-Old Struck by Train, Loses Leg But Survives

Photo Courtesy of ABC7 Facebook Page

An 11-year-old boy who was struck by a Metra train in Blue Island Tuesday is alive, but lost his leg.

Alexander Zepeda may have been running to catch a school bus when he tried to cross the tracks at 127th Street and Winchester Avenue, near the Burr Oak station around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, ABC7 reports.

The gates were down, and lights were functional, according to the report.

The fifth-grader at Burr Oak School reportedly tried to climb under the stopped train, when it began moving again, entrapping his leg. He is now recovering from surgery at Christ Advocate Children’s Hospital.

“He hasn’t talked about it. I don’t think he knows his leg was cut off, but eventually he’ll feel it,” his sister Jasmine Zepeda told ABC7.