Rebecca Huitson's Arm Reattached After Being Severed By High-Speed Train

12-Year-Old Has Arm Reattached After Severed By High-Speed Train

Rebecca Huitson, the 12-year-old girl whose arm was ripped off when a passing train hit her at a high speed level crossing, has had the limb reattached.

The schoolgirl's arm had to be retrieved from the track after she was hit at Killingworth late afternoon on Monday, according to the British Transport Police. The crash involved the 5pm Edinburgh to London King's Cross train, which was travelling at 110mph.

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said the girl had been with three friends when she suffered a "glancing blow" from the train. He added, "She was conscious, but had suffered a severe arm injury to her left arm, which had resulted in the severing of the limb."

On Wednesday, the schoolgirl from Brunswick Village, Newcastle, was operated on at the city's Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Surgeons said the procedure had "gone quite well".

Consultant plastic surgeon Michael Schenker added Huitson's arm had suffered "a lot of damage", the BBC reported.

"I don't know how they found it but I was told it was discovered quite far away from the patient. It has a number of fractures so we have to deal with that at a later stage.

"The main thing was to get the blood supply into the arm as quickly as possible, and so far that is working", he said.

Her parents, Julie and Lee Huitson, have kept a vigil by her bedside since she was admitted to the hospital on Monday night.

The girl's fellow students were said to be shocked by the news and were being offered counselling services. Alison Shaw, college principal, said: "We can confirm that one of our pupils was injured in this deeply distressing incident. Our thoughts are with her and her family at this very difficult time."

Huitson has now been returned to a normal ward from the Intensive Care Unit. Police are continuing investigations into the incident but it appeared to be "an accident".

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