A 52-year-old Lyons man, struck by an inbound Metra train on Wednesday night, was attempting to commit suicide, according to Brookfield police. However, the man survived and remains at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where he underwent surgery. Brookfield police were slated to interview the man this afternoon at the hospital.
According to the police report, the engineer of Metra train 1294 was pulling into the Prairie Avenue train station about 8:20 p.m. on the southernmost set of tracks when he saw a man sitting on the edge of the platform, with his feet on the tracks and his head in his hands.
The engineer reportedly blew the train horn several times, but the man didn’t move. While the train had slowed down, it couldn’t stop before striking the man, who was dragged down the tracks and pinned under the train.
Brookfield firefighter/paramedics removed the man, who was conscious, from the scene and transported him to Loyola Medical Center. The man reportedly told police that he had been at a bar prior to the incident and that he “drank too much, so he wanted to kill himself.”
Metra spokesman Michael Gillis, said the train remained on the scene for about an hour. A train that left Aurora at 8:45 p.m. arrived in Brookfield around 9:05 and picked up passengers from the earlier train to take them east.
A westbound train scheduled to arrive in Brookfield about 9 p.m. was delayed about a half-hour, Gillis said.
