SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - He called his trip an adventure, but during a stop here in Utah that journey became a nightmare. 19 year-old David Frame was hopping rail cars across the U.S. with his dog. At a train yard in salt lake, a load of steel fell on them, killing his dog and nearly killing him. In an ABC 4 news exclusive, Frame’s mom sat down with anchor Kim Fischer to explain how David is doing now.
Milda Ray said the past 2 days have been the longest in memory for her.
"You can't sleep, you can't be in the room with him because he's in critical condition, you have to wait in the waiting room, it's just terrible because you can't be right there beside your own child," Ray said.
David has been sedated in the hospital since his horrific accident Friday. Rescue crews had to call a surgeon to the train yard to amputate his left foot, and save his life. But that wasn't his only injury.
"His right leg is mangled and punctured, he may still lose that, his stomach was outside of his body," Ray said.
David and his dog Capone were riding on a train carrying steel from Colorado to California. At a stop in Utah, the load they were sitting on shifted, trapping Capone.
"He was trying to save his dog and it shifted again and trapped him in the train,” Milda said.
Pinned by tons of steel, David began screaming for help. Milda said three rail workers heard David and rushed over. They immediately called 911. Ray said those three men, and the rescue workers who freed David, are forever her heroes.
"There’s nothing you can do to thank people for that, I mean, they saved his life, that's irreplaceable," she said.
David still has several more surgeries ahead of him, so Milda has started a foundation to help pay for the surgeries. If you would like to donate,
click here.
