Thanks for the explanation, for telling us something about this kid that should make all of us, even the likes of saabconv, realize bad things happen to good people.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on this format, but when the creeps come out to line up with their know-it-all attitudes ready to condemn those who face tragedy, the stink is unbearable.

I have a very, very close relationship with Anthony. Comment No. 22 is exactly what happened. We thank God that he was able to reach his brother Michael, had he not we wouldn't have him today. To those of you who are interested, he is doing very well and will be discharged from rehab Friday, May 15th, just 9 days after the accident thanks to his great progress. To those of you who have a heart of steel, may God 'bless' you 1,000 times with the mean-spirited comments you have about Anthony and his accident and hope nothing similar to this happens to you or someone close to you. He comes from a very well-knit family and is, believe it or not, a good boy. He's studious, disciplined, well-behaved and a good son, brother, grandson. Despite this tragedy he is in good spirits and is looking forward to attending his graduation which he says, "I will go even if I have to roll down the aisle." He is, and will be, an example of a successful individual who will not allow this mishap to get in the way of living a full and happy life. Already Hanger, the company making his protethics -- yes, he will be getting more than one for different activities -- has asked him to be spokesperson for the company. So there!! He's already doing more than any of us with two legs have done. He will continue, I assure you, to grow and mature into a young man reaching all his goals especially that of becoming a chiropractor which was his career choice before the accident. As he told his father right out of recovery with morphine being administered, "Now I'm really going to hit those books." No one on this forum, I suspect, has a missing limb. Only he knows & we his close relatives know the pain he is going through because the condition doesn't stop at amputation. He now has to deal with cramps and what are called "phantom pains" until his body assimilates and adjusts to the loss. So, for those who have any doubts and who have misconceptions about why he was in the train yard, refer to comment No. 22 and add my comment to it. I'd say 90 percent of us have good hearts. It's a shame that the other 10 percent don't even come close to the affection a dog, cat or other domestic pets gives. No one is immune from an accident, that's why it's called an accident. It could happen to anyone from any walk of life, including ourselves.

Jersey City authorities laud brother who helped with train-severed leg

by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
Monday May 11, 2009, 6:44 AM

Michael Capuano ignored gore and blood to help save his younger brother Anthony Capuano after he was hit by a train.

JERSEY CITY -- Authorities credited the life-saving work by the brother of a youth whose leg was severed by a train Wednesday, according to a report in The Jersey Journal.

The report said Michael Capuano was at a friend's home when his brother Anthony called. Michael Capuano found his brother about 15 feet from the tracks. "If it was someone else I would have been all icky about touching it, but it was my brother and I just didn't want him to die," Michael Capuano, 19, told the newspaper about helping save his brother, 17.

wow. a pretty levelheaded reaction by a grievously injured teen.

don't think I'd be able to keep it together under the same circumstance.

hope to hell I never have to.

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Yes, this is apparently what happened. He didn't fall in front of it and he wasn't fooling around. He was waiting for the train to pass, but slipped and fell down the slope and under the train. From a poster on nj.com:

"He was on his way to pratice to become a lifeguard in the summer. He was waiting for the freight train to pass so he could be on his way. While standing there, he lost his footing on a rock and his leg was caught under the train which ran over it. He called 911 but couldn't get through, so then he called his brother, Micheal, which he rushed over only to find out what happened and to his surprise to see his brother in the condition he was in. He sprung into action and called 911 then put pressure till helped arrived. Thanks to everyone that was there, EMS, police and especially to his brother Micheal, Athony is still with us!!!"

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I think you might be on to something....

I read a post last night on NJ.com that was written by one of the first responders. It sounded like he was upslope from the train and some rocks slipped as he was beside it and he slid underneath.

I looked for that post so I could copy it here, but it has disappeared. It was in response to a bunch of posts accusing the kid of being up to no good, so maybe the webmaster there deleted the whole lot.

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I am familiar with that area since I used to go around there a lot as a kid/teen. The story about him using it as a short cut is very likely. He lived on Trenton so if he crossed the bridge on Waldo and cut down the back of the cemetery it would lead him to where he was. Since it was a short cut to Ferris he could of went down to the street at Second to get to Brunswick to get to the high school. Which is a lot faster then any other way he could have took. Slipping is really likely to since it has been raining and the tracks are surrounded with loose rocks. He could have saw the train coming from a distance and decided to cross since the train moves so slow over there. When he slipped he could have really hurt his leg before the train got there and that is why he couldn't move in time.

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Since you're familiar with the spot, tell me there's any way this could have happened other than him running across directly in front of the slow moving train trying to beat the train before he'd have to wait for it to pass.

> he Should Not Have Been There.....

Oh, boohoo. I go back there all the time. A lot of people go back there all the time. Trespassing and not hurting anyone (well, except maybe yourself, if you're not being a good trespasser and keeping an eye on your back) really isn't one of those things that you should waste your time getting all huffy about..

Poor kid. Imagine what it must feel like when a train wheel makes a clean slice and you look down to see your leg has been amputated.

Capital L - you cannot personalize this subject - that is exactly what you're doing - child, man, woman, girl - he Should Not Have Been There.....

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Just fell out of my chair laughing...

To those who have such lovely things to say to a family clearly going through something truly terrible: I sincerely hope people are aren't so quick to shit out their uninformed opinion when tragedy strikes your family. Way to be neighborly.

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You are right the train does travel real slow there. The first thing I thought when I read this article was he must have slipped while hopping on or off the train. That area up to behind the Oaks is popular with people that hop on the trains.

Also shouldn't the article read Jersey City boy slips? He is from Trenton st not Trenton NJ.

is the caps lock on your "L" stuck or what?

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You must live under a rock.
In the eyes of the Law, he's a minor/child until the age of
18.

So, you relax, I wonder if you would have the same attitude if it involved you Losing a Limb or a Loved one?

Cheers!

"reading "Into the Wild" because I got furious at the author continually referring to a 23 year old man making stupid decisions as a "boy"

If you don't finish reading the book, check out the movie, it was pretty good.

That is a shame he lost his leg.

Those trains move VERY slow through there, maybe 8mph or so. This is partly because the track makes a small jig in the tunnel next to where this happened.

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Without regard to the details of this particular case, I get enraged by writers and journalists who use these descriptors to bias their writing. This person could have been described as a "teen" or "young man" or simply "17 year old male" rather than the sympathetic and responsibility voiding "boy". The Journal often uses sympathetic adjectives for gang bangers as well as accident victims.

I stopped reading "Into the Wild" because I got furious at the author continually referring to a 23 year old man making stupid decisions as a "boy". Some of the worst things that ever happened to me was NOT being held accountable for stupid things I did as a young man. Unfortunately for both the subjects of the book and this thread, poor judgment carried its own irreversible price.

MYBEAT - he is 17 - he's not a "child." 17 year olds are having children these days. I am sorry his leg got severed, it sucks - but he SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE - that is my and Skepticalhook's and LoKo's POINT....relax. It wasn't your leg.

Let those of you who never did a stupid thing in your Life cast the 1st stone!

It would be nice if most of you would excercise some sensitivity regardless of lack of good judgement on this
child's part.

PS:Don't throw rocks in glass houses!

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Yes, it would appear we have a new ward of the state. I feel bad for him, but clearly this guy shouldn't have been a life guard anyway, if this is any indication of his judgment.

They're saying he was taking a short cut to lifeguard practice - but the only short cut is now his leg. I'm sure he'll sue even though he did trespass....

Why was he walking on the tracks in the first place. Aint that private property?

TRAIN CUTS BOY'S LEG BELOW KNEE

Thursday, May 07, 2009
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A 17-year-old boy's right leg was severed when it was passed over by a freight train in Downtown Jersey City yesterday, officials said.

Michael Capuano, of Trenton Street, was rushed to the Jersey City Medical Center and into emergency surgery shortly after the 4:21 p.m. incident on tracks off Merseles Street near Second Street, officials said.

The boy's right leg was severed below the knee, officials said.

CSX shut down train traffic on the tracks and emergency responders accessed the area through the property of Jewel Electric, which is located beneath the New Jersey Turnpike overpass, officials said.

Grim-faced police officers and EMTs wheeled the boy on a stretcher to an ambulance waiting on a dirt access road.

Fire Director Armando Roman said firefighters arrived at the location quickly from a nearby firehouse and found Capuano had lost a lot of blood.

The boy was able to speak to the responders for a short time before he began to fade in and out of consciousness and finally went into shock, officials said.

Capuano said he was walking along the tracks and he saw the train coming, but slipped, Roman said.

Police were unable to speak to the boy last night due to his condition, Jersey City spokesman Stan Eason said.

CSX officials responded to the scene and tracked down the train, which did not stop, to a Newark train yard, Eason said. CSX is also investigating the incident, he said.

Capuano remained in surgery last night after 7 p.m. Hospital officials did not respond to calls seeking his condition.

Family members of the boy could not be reached last night.