Leetonia train crash survivor reunites with firefighters who saved his life
LEETONIA, Ohio - In 1975, three trains crashed in Leetonia, one man was killed while four others were hurt.
One of those survivors, Rafe Pierce, a train engineer, stopped by the Leetonia Fire Station on Tuesday to reunite with the firefighters who helped pull him from the wreckage and save his life.
"It was June 6th, about 11:45 at night and we were going east, through the Highland Cut. Somebody come up behind it, the train hit our tracks and rammed in the caboose and knocked the cars up in front of us so we hit them," Pierce said.
Pierce said he was trapped for 5 hours.
"I ran out behind the engineer's seat, was gonna jump, but I seen all those rocks go by so I dove on the floor and he dove where I was at and we both lived," Pierce said.
Gary Steele was the first man to find Pierce after someone told him there was a man trapped in the engine.
"I went over in the engine and here he's sitting there with a rock through the window on his arm and it was shutting off his circulation," Steele said.
"He put his hand on my ankle and squeezed and I thought I got a chance now," Pierce said.
"We talked about a lot of different stuff," Steele said.
"It was the sweetest voice I ever heard in my life," Pierce chimed in.
Steele said he was getting worried.
"I couldn't figure out how they was ever going to get the rock off him and save his life," Steele said.
Several hours later, they did get the rock off and Pierce went to the hospital. He ended up losing his arm, but feels lucky to be alive.
"I am so happy to be here man," Pierce said.
46 years later, Pierce said he really wanted to meet up with the first responders who saved him.
"I wanted to tell him thank you and I did tell him thank you, this guy right here man, I was wanting out of there so bad and after that, I've had a really good life and I'm happy about that and I wouldn't have a chance to do all that if it wasn't for these guys right here," Pierce said.
Pierce was 21 years old when that crash took place.
After his recovery, he traveled a bit but ultimately decided to go back to college and become a counselor to help those with an alcohol or drug addiction. Since he got a second chance, he wanted to help others do the same.
