Butler man seriously injured in fall from railroad bridge into creek
A Butler man was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital Monday, July 10, with serious injures he suffered after falling about 30 feet from a railroad bridge into Connoquenessing Creek in Butler.
Patrick James, 52, was walking with other people along the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad tracks near South Monroe Street when he fell from a bridge into the knee-deep water of the creek around 11:30 a.m Monday, city officials said.
“He had some serious traumatic injuries as a result of the fall,” said Chris Switala, chief of the city’s Bureau of Fire.
He said James was conscious and alert when firefighters, paramedics and police arrived, but he had obvious traumatic injuries to he his head, chest and legs. He pointed out some large rocks laying in the creek bed in the area where James fell.
“It’s probably about a 30-foot drop,” Switala said.
He said emergency responders waded into the creek and carried James out in a Stokes basket. An ambulance was driven down the tracks to the scene for the rescue, which took about 15 minutes, he said.
A train approached the scene as the rescue was taking place and stopped, Switala said. The train then proceeded to allow the responders to remove the injured man, he said.
The railroad company was contacted and asked to temporarily halt traffic on the tracks, Switala said.
