[Danny_Ocean]

Last year, a woman jogging across the R/R tracks (while wearing earphones/iPod listening to music) was hit by a train and had both legs severed.

If you live in the area, you see the trains run through daily (as you are typically stuck at the crossing gates waiting for them) so it's no secret where they run. Additionally, there are huge "No Tresspassing" signs along the entire length of the tracks.

She was on the news today with her lawyers by her side. I'd like to see a counter-suit for the time it took the clean-up crew to hose down the train/tracks...



Woman who lost her legs to a train copes with nightmare scenario
Miami Herald ^ | Jun. 24, 2008 | ADAM H. BEASLEY

(While she knows she is lucky to be alive, Cheryl Risse says nothing in her life is the same since losing her legs in the train accident.)

Cheryl Risse has to crawl to the bathroom, but she often wakes up in a dead sprint.

Her recurring nightmares have become expected, but no less terrifying.

One day, Risse, 33, hopes to walk down the aisle. But for now, she'd like merely to escape the haunting sound of trains rumbling past her Pompano Beach home six times a day.

It's been nearly a year since both Risse's legs were severed by a Florida East Coast Railway train after she tripped while jogging across tracks less than a mile from her home.

By all accounts -- hers included -- it is a miracle she survived the horrific July 5 accident.

''I'm happy to be alive,'' Risse said last Thursday, while wiping a stream of tears from her face. ``But I'm not doing too good.''

Through it all, Risse has an optimistic streak. She knows she's loved.

Her partner in her personal battle has been fiancé David Abate. Abate helps her get dressed and drives her everywhere she needs to go.

''It's been rough,'' admits Abate, 36, a cook.

The morning of the accident, Risse, an avid runner, tried to cross three sets of FEC tracks in the 2100 block of North Dixie Highway.

She wore iPod headphones as she ran through the open stretch of track -- not a legal crossing. She didn't see -- or hear -- FEC locomotive No. 421, which was backing up adjacent to boxcars that are often parked in the middle set of tracks.

Risse tripped, didn't get up in time, and the train's wheels severed both her legs, dragging her before she rolled free of the engine.

After the train essentially blew her legs apart, she stayed conscious and crawled to the road, where someone called paramedics. She kept the jagged nubs of her once-athletic legs above her heart, possibly saving her life.

Risse arrived at North Broward Medical Center in Deerfield Beach in critical condition. The accident left her hospitalized for six weeks.

Tuesday, Risse will undergo surgery on her legs for the fourth time. She has developed bone spurs in her right leg that need to be shaved down.

Her insurance won't cover the installation of railings in her home, so she has to crawl from room to room ''like a dog,'' she said.

She can't work for more than a few hours at a time, earning just a fraction of what she did as a saleswoman at the Accardi family of car dealerships before the accident.

And then there are the nightmares. She still has horrifying dreams of the accident, which leave her trying to run in her sleep.

No one seems to notice the trains passing through the neighborhood, but Risse says she hears every one.

She said she is seeing a therapist to help her cope with her grief.

Things are getting better, though.

When she first started using prosthetics, Risse would fall often. But thanks to a new technology used by amputees from the Iraq War, her mobility has improved dramatically.

On her left leg, Risse wears a C-Leg Microprocessor knee, a $50,000 computerized device with sensors that more accurately simulate the joint's movement.

''She's an amazing, young, warm person,'' said Terri Bukacheski, clinical director of Ortho Pro, a South Florida prosthetic facility.

Bukacheski pulled strings to get Risse the expensive device.

Still, Risse has a mountain of medical bills and no regular income with which to pay them.

And so, with the help of Fort Lauderdale attorneys Stephen L. Malove and Scott L. Henratty, she has filed a negligence lawsuit against FEC, the train's engineer and its brakeman.

The eight-count complaint states that the company should have known that pedestrians routinely cross the tracks at that location but did not post ''No Trespassing'' signs on the west side of the tracks.

"Yes, it's trespassing, but that hardly stops anyone from using the spot to get to a running path on the east side of the tracks", her attorneys say.

Trains in that location are normally stationary, Malove said, and those that move do so at no more than 15 mph.

According to Malove, the crew didn't even realize they had hit anyone until they saw the fire-rescue crew.

'They even asked, `What happened?' '' Malove said.

Lawyers for Florida East Coast Railway have been made aware of the lawsuit, but a spokesman for the company declined to comment on Monday.

As of Monday morning, Malove's law office had not heard a formal response to their complaint. The case could take months -- if not years -- to decide.

In the meantime, Risse will continue to work toward a normal life, in the hopes that on her wedding day she will be able to reach Abate's side using nothing but prosthetic legs.

''I used to run more than I drove a car,'' she said. ``Without people in my life, I wouldn't have made it.''