Surf instructor, 24, has arm ripped ‘completely off’ when ‘clipped’ by Amtrak train with no warning
A California surf instructor had her arm ripped off after being hit by an Amtrak train while she pushed her e-bike across the tracks.
Elieah Boyd, 24, said she was in complete disbelief to look down and see she was missing her arm — which was found several feet away, allowing it to be reattached.
“There was no train horn. It was like three seconds from when I saw the train to when it happened,” she told KTLA.
“I just happened to have my hand still on the bike as the train goes by. The train barely clipped the bike, just enough to take my arm completely off.”
The sickening injury took place just before 5:30 p.m. July 7 as Boyd was pushing her 80-pound electric bike across the train tracks in Ventura.
Miraculously, a retired firefighter had been walking with her at the time and called paramedics.
Boyd was airlifted to UC Irvine Medical Center, where she underwent a grueling, 10-hour surgery to reattach the limb.
She still has a further two surgeries scheduled in the coming weeks, but said she already has some feeling back in her arm.
“Kind of like jolts of energy is what it feels like. I do have feeling internally that it’s healing,” she said.
As she recovers, the avid surfer and surfing coach says she is desperate to get back in the ocean.
“As soon as I can touch the water, I’ll be on a surfboard. That’s all I dream about here in the hospital. I just want to get back in the water and surf,” she said.
A GoFundMe set up to pay for Boyd’s medical treatment and recovery has already raised more than $50,000 of a target of $65,000 since it was set up.
