Newlyweds left injured, traumatized after passenger cart fell onto Amtrak tracks in Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Some newlyweds headed to their honeymoon never made it to their Amtrak train at Union Station—they ended up on the tracks instead.
Shundra Johnson and Leonard Stepheny said they often relive the traumatic experience and are now in physical and mental health therapy.
Video showed Johnson and Stepheny being driven in a passenger cart—similar to a golf cart—to their Amtrak train in June.
"We could start to feel, underneath us, bumps, where the caution, the yellow caution is on the platform," said Johnson, "and as soon as I was getting ready to turn and look at my husband, the cart fell over onto the train tracks."
Stepheny knew something was very wrong before the cart fell too.
"You could hear the tire go blub, blub, blub, blub, blub, blub—and it was like, he paid no attention," said Stepheny. "He just kept going."
Then, the unimaginable happened as the cart fell—as also seen on video. Johnson said her head hit a track, and then the passenger cart fell on top of her.
"In that moment, as I'm going down, all I could think is I've got to protect my head—but it wasn't enough time to raise my arms. It wasn't enough reaction time to do anything," said Johnson. "All I know is I could feel and hear the metal clanking as it hit the edge of the platform, and all I can hear is, you know, 'Are you OK! Are you OK!' from my husband. I said, 'I can't feel anything,' so I got nervous being pinned under."
Stepheny was in shock and horror too.
"It was one of the scariest moments in my life, because I'm like, what can I do to help her?" Stepheny said. "I'm looking at her trapped under the thing, so I didn't have no regards about my safety or anything."
The couple said the passenger cart also had a luggage cart attached to it.
"I can imagine the weight that was on her from all these carts," Stepheny said.
In the video, Stepheny is seen working frantically with others to try to lift the passenger cart off his wife. The driver sits on the tracks—it appears he also hit his head on a track.
"I'm trying to go into action to lift this thing," Stepheny said. "We lift it up, the one guy is saying, he was like trying to hold the thing, and I'm like, it's going to fall back over, and if it falls back over, there ain't no telling what damage it will do if it falls back onto you."
The driver later struggles to walk to another passenger cart on the platform. Moments later, he holds his head in both hands.
"Never heard him say, you know, 'Are you guys OK?'" said Johnson. "Never heard, 'I'm so sorry.'"
After a visit to the ER nearly seven hours later, the couple—determined to celebrate their honeymoon in Missouri—got on a different Amtrak train. Johnson was bandaged and on crutches, and her husband's left arm was injured.
Going on the trip was a decision the couple would regret because of the pain they felt hours later.
"My whole lower body was bruised up from the impact," said Johnson. "On my legs, there are parts of my legs that are sensitive to the touch—where even if I'm putting on stockings, the pain is so severe."
The couple said they have a long road ahead. Stepheny has had surgery for a torn bicep and rotator cuff, while Johnson says she may need hip surgery.
Johnson said the extreme pain in her lower body persists.
"There was damage to the veins from the impact in certain spots, which is those tender spots on the leg," Johnson said.
The couple's lawyer is contemplating filing a lawsuit.
Meantime, CBS News Chicago asked Amtrak about the status of the employee involved and the training transport employees receive. The response was that this is active case with the Amtrak claims unit, and Amtrak can confirm nothing further about the incident.
