8/3/2019 PB Post, Train Jumping, Page 3

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5Q

train jumping A DESPERATE JOURNEY THE PALM BEACH POST SUNDAY, NOV. 12, 2006

Trouble came forManuel Perez, 32, ofHonduras in the first moments of his trip. When he jumped a train in Tenosique, Tabasco, the cars moved suddenly and his foot wascrushed between the couplings. Perez, who was headed forMiami, lostfive toes.

TENOSIQUE,MEXICO

meet t

hebeast

On an unusuallydreary

dayin adot-sized town in

southern Mexico, the beast

roared through, opened

its jaws and swallowed the

man who tried to tame it.

Agasp went up from the little shacks and

stores thathug the railroad tracks like laun-

dry on aline, and grandmothers rushed

outfrom back rooms with rags to fashion amakeshift tourniquet.

But when they saw the nature of

the poorfellows injuries acrushed leg,

asplit torso theyabandoned their scraps

and murmured their prayers instead.

Clusters ofschoolgirls in crimson uni-

forms huddled at the scene, covering their

mouths with slender, sun-browned fingers,

and afew walked north to peek at the black

boot that poked up from the weeds like a

death notice; only the very curious ventured

farther to look for the small piece ofshin-

bone rumored to have lodged itself in thegrass after the train ate the mans leg and

the rushing wind blewbits of itinto the en-

gine yard.

It was odd, seeing apink Pumacap there, too,and trying to imagine the young Guatemalan who

justafewmoments ago had been wearing it aman who nowbumped along in asmall, whiteambulance on his way to the capital, where it washoped ateam of doctors would be able to save him.The schoolgirls were joined by theirmothers in

the housedresses they wore formaking tortillas,and bymen in soiled work pants the colorofthefields. Little boys peeked outfrom their sisters

skirts,a

nda

12-yea

r-old girl, who on norma

l dayspracticed hermarching-band steps on the cross-

ties, stood motionless.Lo irnico, said the towns residents accom-

plished medical examiners after years ofsuch ca-lamities. The irony was thatCelestino Hernandez,19, mighthave survived were itnotfor the machetehe carried for protection.When he slipped from the train, he fell on his

sword.

Itis impossible not to cry sometimes I dontgo to the windowanymore, because I dont wantto see it, said Teofila Montejo, who witnessed theaccidentfrom the tiny store where she sells porkrinds and candies.Perhaps it was his first time. Perhaps he was

weak orexhausted ordehydrated. Whatever thecase, he tried to jump the train from astandstill amiscalculation, like mounting agallopinghorse from an armchair and then he fell, and

theb

ea

st sucked him under.The big, steel wheels, 36 inches in diameterand 6 inches wide, rolled overhis rightleg, and hislong knife turned againsthim. The rescue squadtook him to the local hospital, where doctors triedto staunch the blood, and then the ambulance car-ried him over the hills from Tenosique, the sleepytown of his mistake, to the biggercity ofVillaher-

mosain Tabasco state.Incredibly, he was notalone.

A fewminutes earlier, 32-year-old Daniel RamosofHonduras had tried his luck and lost, slippingonto the rails near the terra-cotta boarding housefor students in the nicer part oftown.The nextday, the townspeople whispered the

news:The Honduran had lived, the Guatemalan had

not.A few streets away, an old manual typewriter

worked overtime. Itfell to the men atGrupo Beta,

the huma

nita

ria

nb

ra

nch ofM

exicos immigra

tionagency, to write up the latest mutilation reports.In the meticulous records, Ramos would go

down as the 19th train jumper ofthe year tolose alimb (or worse) in this part ofthe country.Hernandez would make the 20th.It was, however, onlyJune. And everyone in the

little town knew the beast was hungry still.

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STORY BY STAFF WRITER CHRISTI NE EVANS | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHY BY GARY CORONADO

The journeycontinues>