(The Charlotte Observer posted the following article by Jackie Mah on its website on May 29.)
GASTONIA, N.C. — As an eight-car freight train moved closer, Paul Martin, 31, of Gastonia, struggled to free his foot from the tracks.
John Wilkinson, an emergency room doctor who lives next to the tracks on South Street, had just gotten out of the shower Wednesday when he heard Martin’s cries for help through an open window.
Wilkinson said when he got outside, the Norfolk Southern Railway train was about 75 yards from Martin.
He said the train was moving slowly, so he jogged up the track to warn the engineer, who stopped the train.
Martin was collecting cans along the Norfolk Southern trestle bridge, which runs over a creek about 50 feet below, when his foot slipped and wedged between the railroad ties, police said.
Wilkinson said he called 911 and it took Gastonia EMS workers almost 30 minutes to unbolt part of the track and separate the ties using a hydraulic device, said Gastonia Fire Division Chief Danny Worley.
After being stuck for almost an hour, Martin complained of numbness in his leg, and he couldn’t walk, Worley said.
Martin was treated and released from Gaston Memorial Hospital, officials said.
Gastonia police charged Martin with trespassing on the property owned by Norfolk Southern, said Maj. Tim Adams of the Gastonia Police Department.
Although Wilkinson said his job is to help people in emergencies, he said the incident was unusual.
“I’m used to that kind of thing,” he said. “Just not in my back yard.”