Good Samaritan saves woman with severed legs

Jeweller credits nimble fingers in saving train accident victim

Last Updated: Monday, June 28, 2010 | 8:56 PM ET

A Quebec man says he was able to help save a woman who lost her legs in a train accident by tying the arteries in her legs thanks to his experience as a jeweller.

Roger Saulnier was walking his dog near the train station in Jonquère shortly after midnight Sunday when he said he heard someone scream about a woman who had fallen beneath a train.

He said he ran to the scene and saw a woman with both her legs severed at the thigh. Witnesses saw the young woman and a young man trying to hop onto a freight train just past midnight, Saguenay police spokesman Bruno Cormier said.

The 20-year-old woman fell and ended up under the train with both legs severed, Cormier said.

The woman was reportedly hoping to spend Sunday night under the stars with her boyfriend as they jumped onto a slow-moving freight train in the area northeast of Quebec City.

Saulnier said he has no first aid training and acted on instinct alone.

"I didn't look at it," he said. "I just said that the blood had to stop."

Saulnier said he first tried to push the gushing arteries back into the woman's legs.

When that didn't work, he said he managed to grab the artery in one leg and tie it into a tight knot.

"The blood finally stopped," he said.

Saulnier said he used a nearby plastic bag to fashion a tourniquet around the other leg.

Saulnier said that his fingers are extremely nimble thanks to the delicate work he does as a jeweller.

"The only skill I have is that I acted very fast," said Saulnier. "It took me about 30 seconds to tie the knots."

Saguenay police said Saulnier stayed calm until the arrival of medical help, who were stunned by what he had done.

"He did it rapidly, efficiently and using the right technique to avoid hemorrhaging," said police spokesperson Bruno Cormier.

After police arrived on the scene, Saulnier was treated for shock.

He said he is still unable to sleep.

"I can't close my eyes," he said, breaking into sobs. "I see nothing but the bones, muscle and blood."

Julie Sénécal, a spokeswoman for CN Rail, said that the railway campaigns to try to prevent this kind of accident.

"But unfortunately, some people just don't realize how dangerous it is to be close to a train, or to climb on railway equipment."

People can be fined as much as $144 for trespassing on CN property, she said.

Saguenay police have said the woman injured in the accident won't be charged.

Authorities say her life is not in danger.

From: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/06/28/quebec-train-accident.html