Man's Leg Punctured By Protruding Rebar
CHICAGO (CBS) - He was just walking near his work place when something he didn't see punctured his leg. He's worried it could happen to someone else walking or biking along that same Chicago stretch, so he spoke with CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman about it.
Andrei Vorobiev has a little bit of a limp. A close encounter with a sharp piece of rebar is to blame.
"It is still painful," said Vorobiev.
It happened Monday. The sidewalk along Ravenswood was closed so he walked along the wall under the train tracks. He didn't see what was in his path.
"Initially I heard the sound," said Vorobiev. "It sounded like something puncturing."
He showed us pictures of his bloody clothes.
"Actually his whole pant leg was covered with blood," said Brian Moran. "He was in and out of consciousness."
So Moran called 911. Paramedics were there in moments. Vorobiev says they told him he lost about two liters of blood. Doctors treated it like a stab wound.
The piece that was sticking out and punctured Vorobiev's leg isn't the only one. In a one-block stretch, we counted at least seven others.
"It's very rusted, and a lot of sharp edges," said Moran.
Most don't protrude the way the one that hurt Vorobiev did, but a couple of the sharp, rusted pieces of rebar do.
"My thought was it shouldn't be happening. It shouldn't be here and it's not right," said Vorobiev.
We got in touch with Metra for him. They're sending out their own teams, even though it's not their wall.
They advised us to call Union Pacific. When we asked their spokesman Mark Davis about Vorobiev's case, he said, "In 30 years, this is the first one that I've ever heard of like this, but I can tell you, they will fix it to make it safe."
That said, Union Pacific isn't even 100 percent sure it's their property. Like Metra, they're sending out investigators.
They say anytime you see something dangerous along the tracks, call it in. The Metra Police is a number to start: 1-312-322-2800.
