(The following story by Liz Dorland appeared on the Action 3 News website on January 29, 2009.)
OMAHA, Neb. — When Graig Lang, a Union Pacific worker, died in a local train accident Wednesday, it brought back terrible memories for Wes Franks. His life changed forever when a train rolled over him.
Sitting in the Immanuel Hospital Rehabilitation Center, Wes Franks recalls that terrible day, “I could feel the wheel run over my legs and I thought well I’m not gonna keep holding on here and just be drawn in. So that’s when I let go.”
Bandages and a wheelchair are daily reminders for Franks, after the life-scarring accident on the train he was conducting, “The train lunged. It jerked and I lost my footing. It lunged, it jerked again and I lost my other foot and there I was hanging by my arms.” With all the strength in his arms, Franks held on for dear life, all the while yelling to a fellow conductor to stop the train. With tears rolling down his face, Franks says, “All I was thinking about at that time is please train stop. Just stop.”
It was too late. The train’s wheels shredded both of his legs. Franks stairs at the ceiling and recalls paramedics yelling, “He’s not gonna live, there’s no way this guys gonna live. Every one of them was wrong and I know cause I told myself I was going to die.” Miraculously he didn’t die.
Months later his pain is still visible on his face. Watching nurses move what’s left of the 52- year-old’s right leg, he grunts in pain. But he says it’s worth it because he’s “one step closer to going vertical a lot more often than I am now.” Even though his legs are lost, Franks has gained a new outlook on life. “I never stopped to watch the sun rise or a sun set or a flower or children playing or anything before you know? But now I do and it’s wonderful.”
Wes Franks hopes to leave Immanuel by the end of February. Doctors tell him his age may hold back the chances of him walking on prosthetic legs. Franks tells Action 3 News he plans on proving them wrong.