Videotaping Goes Wrong; Train Nearly Severs Grinnell College Student's Leg

By Jeff Raasch

Tools

By Richard Pratt

Story Created: Mar 19, 2010 at 6:57 AM CST

Story Updated: Mar 19, 2010 at 12:09 PM CST

GRINNELL -- Authorities say a Grinnell College student is lucky to be alive after it appears he was run over by a train on campus Thursday.

Police responded to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks south of Eighth Avenue on the college campus around 6:25 p.m. Darwin C. Manning, 18, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was found with a severe injury to his right leg, authorities said.

“He did go under the train,” Police Chief Jody Matherly said. “There’s a probability that he was run over. It appears that he was.”

Officers discovered Manning and another student were videotaping each other jumping onto the southbound train when Manning fell off. His leg was nearly severed, Matherly said.

Manning was taken by ambulance to Grinnell Regional Medical Center. After treatment, he was flown by air ambulance to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. He was in serious but stable condition, police said.

Police and Union Pacific Railroad officials are continuing to investigate.

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