A 24-year-old surf instructor from California is recovering in hospital after a horrific accident in which her arm was torn off by an Amtrak train while she was pushing her electric bike across railway tracks. Elieah Boyd was struck just before 5:30 pm on 7 July in Ventura, as she attempted to move her 80-pound e-bike over the tracks. “There was no train horn. It was like three seconds from when I saw the train to when it happened,” she told local outlet KTLA. The train only lightly clipped her bike, but with devastating effect, ripping her arm clean off. Incredibly, the severed limb was found several feet away and surgeons were able to reattach it in a complex 10-hour operation at UC Irvine Medical Center. A retired firefighter who had been walking with her at the time quickly called emergency services, likely helping to save her life. Boyd, who still faces at least two more operations, says she has already begun to feel faint pulses of sensation in her arm. “Kind of like jolts of energy is what it feels like. I do have feeling internally that it’s healing,” she said, as quoted by the New York Post. Despite the trauma, the experienced surfer is focused on getting back to the ocean. “As soon as I can touch the water, I’ll be on a surfboard. That’s all I dream about here in the hospital,” she added. A GoFundMe campaign set up to support her recovery has already raised over $50,000 of its $65,000 goal. “Through it all, Elieah has shown incredible strength, keeping her positive spirit and infectious smile,” the page read.
