The 17-year-old Georgia high school senior who lost both his legs below the knees when he was struck by a train in March is now suing the company that he says is responsible.
Jacob Ohl was hit by the CSX train on March 2 while he was walking along thetrack with his earbuds in; his mother later claimed that while he 'sensed' the train was near, he didn't hear it, according to Daily Mail.
That, Ohl claims in a suit filed in DeKalb County last week, is because CSX was negligent - and now he wants at least US$200,000 (Z$269,140) compensation, AJC.com reported.
Ohl has already racked up US$200,000 in medical bills, his suit claims. Photo / GoFundME
Ohl's suit names not just CSX but also train operators Derrick Tyrone Marshal of Stone Mountain, and Clifton Edward Martin of Greenwood, South Carolina.
It says that they saw Ohl when they were 1,000 feet from him but did not ring the train's bell, blow its horn or put on the brakes before they struck him.
The train took at least half-mile - around 2,600 feet - to come to a full stop once the brakes were applied, police said at the time.
The suit also claims they were stopped from spotting Ohl earlier by a lack of a properly functioning camera on the front of the train.
CSX also did not put up proper warning signs or fences to stop people walking by the tracks, the suit alleges.
It says that CSX is liable for his hospital bills - which have already totalled more than US$200,000 (NZ$269,140) , as well as damages he may incur in the future.
CSX declined to comment to AJC.com on the suit and would not say whether Marshall and Martin are still employed by the company.
The suit says CSX is responsible, in part because it failed to put up signs and fences to keep people out. Photo / Fox 5 Atlanta
A GoFundMe page was established to help him; it had made US$45,652 (NZ$57,397) as of Monday afternoon.
In the immediate aftermath of the accident, Ohl was able to call 911 for help. In the recording he can be head calmly telling the operator "Um, I just got hit by a train."
Noting that his voice is unusually flat - Ohl was in shock at the time - she asks whether he is all right and what happened.
He replies that there is a problem with his legs: "I think it cut them off."
After finding him at the scene, paramedics applied tourniquets to Ohl's legs to stop the bleeding, likely saving his life.
A family friend described Ohl in the GoFundMe page 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.
Police said at the time that it took at least half a mile for the train to come to a halt. Photo / GoFundMe
"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.
In a post made in April, his family wrote about him being released from hospital.
"Both legs are healing well and he is mostly pain free except for the phantom pains,' they said. They sent him home with only one non-narcotic prescription for those phantom pains and only minimal instructions for wound care.
"Once a week, he will visit the physical therapists and prosthetics teams to work towards his new mobility. For now, the borrowed wheelchair is working great.
"He is elated to be sleeping in his own bed, eating home-cooked food, playing his own games and instruments and living at his Dad's house."
Ohl had been accepted into college and got a job as an office assistant at a landscaping company in the days before the accident.
