Man Sleeping on Railroad Tracks Survives Being Run Over – But Freeing His 'Entangled' Hand Took Nearly 2 Hours

At one point during the rescue process, officials called in a surgical team to prepare for "a possible field amputation"

A man who had been sleeping on train tracks survived after being hit by a train — but it took almost two hours before rescuers could free his left hand, which was "entangled" in an axle.

On Monday, Aug. 26, at 9:37 p.m. local time, officials responded to the scene at the Ann Arbor Railroad tracks, where a 20-year-old man was injured after a freight train, which had been traveling at a slow speed, "ran over him," according to a post from the Ann Arbor Fire Department.

When they arrived at the scene, firefighters found that his “left hand was entangled in the rear axle of the lead locomotive."

They went on to explain that specifically, it was "pinned between the wheel, axle, and wear gear."

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"Due to the patient’s location combined with strength of the metal of this part of the locomotive," firefighters wrote that the process of rescuing him was “incredibly challenging”.

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After an hour, the Ann Arbor Fire Department said it “drove out the flight crew from Survival Flight along with a surgical team from U-M Dept of Surgery in preparation for a possible field amputation.”

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In an interview with local FOX affiliate WJBK,fire chief Mike Kennedy opened up more about what made the process so difficult.

"There was limited access, and all of that is really significant metal, so a lot of our normal tools and techniques don’t work for something that extraordinary," he said. "There’s no lifting that locomotive."

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After close to two hours, fire officials were able to successfully remove the man’s hand without having to resort to amputation. He was later transported to a local hospital and listed in stable condition.

"This was a once in career incident for those involved. Normally, person versus train incidents are fatal," fire officials wrote in their statement, adding that the rescue "was a true team effort"."

Representatives from the Ann Arbor Fire Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional comment.

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