US student, 17, had both legs severed by passing train

Audio has emerged of the 17-year-old Georgia high school senior calling 911 after having both of his legs severed by a train this week.

The victim, identified as Jacob Ohl, was rescued alongside the train tracks near Shelly Lane in Lilburn, Georgia when he was struck by a northbound CSX train at 1pm on Thursday.

He can be heard calling local authorities sounding extremely calm - likely the effect of extreme shock and adrenaline setting in after the accident.

Ohl was alone when he telephoned emergency services who sent medical aids to his rescue. The 911 operator efficiently asked Ohl a number of questions about his location, and how exactly the incident transpired, in the audio obtained by the AJC.

He tells the operator: "Um, I just got hit by a train."

He then told her that he was "near the garden ... off the path of the park" in downtown Lilburn, Georgia.

She then asks Ohl if he is OK - because his tone was so neutral, to which he simply responded "no".

When the woman asked what part of his body was hurt, he told her it was his legs.
"I think it cut them off," he said.

He also told her that he thought he had fallen in front of the train as it passed.

It took the locomotive between 800 metres to two kilometres to stop after it struck Ohl.

Paramedics applied tourniquets to his legs to stop the bleeding, which Bardugon says likely saved his life. Police originally reported that they saw him laying with his feet laid over the tracks.

The teen was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville in stable condition.

Paramedics said Ohl told them he didn't intend to hurt himself, reported Fox 5 Atlanta.

The Lilburn Police Department and CSX will conduct a joint investigation.

According to a GoFundMe page created by a family friend to show messages of support, Ohl underwent surgery on Thursday to clean his wounds and finish the amputation on the damaged portions of his legs below the knee. It has since received over $35,000 in donations.

He has since been taken out of the ICU and has already begun his physical and occupational therapy with a "steady, composed, and graceful" demeanor, according to an update on the GoFundMe.

His mother Fern said: "Jacob told the 911 operator and told us immediately that he was walking down the center of the tracks with his earbuds on. He made sure to point out that the noise cancelling function was not on.

"Like any of us would, he feels embasassed [sic] that this happened. He says he heard/sensed the train behind him. He does not remember exactly if he jumped, fell or was knocked out of the way just in time. He is sure that the train never sounded its whistle."

Ohl thinks that he fell in front of the train as it passed. Photo / Fox 5

The friend described Ohl as a thriving senior at Brookwood High School, where he is enrolled in honours classes and plays first-chair stand-up bass in the school orchestra.
Ohl, who goes by the stage name FishbOhl, is also a member of the high school's jazz band, where he plays bass.

"Jacob has two brothers and an extended family that loves and admires him for his genuine, peaceful spirit, his old-soul wisdom and his compassion," reads the description of the fundraiser.

Ohl has been accepted into college and he had just recently got a job as an office assistant at a landscaping company.

"Our family is reeling from this tragedy, but at the same time, we are so happy and feel so lucky that he is alive," the page reads.

The boy's mother said on Facebook that the family will have to make their home wheelchair-accessible by building a ramp, installing support bars and retrofitting the bathroom ahead of Jacob's release from the hospital.