This Day in History: 1934-09-16
A Mahwah youth, William Kulawczyk 19, had his foot badly crushed under an Erie Railroad freight train in Suffern. According to the story told by the victim and his companion John Krupinski, Kulawczyk was impatient at the time a slow moving train was passing and attempted to crawl across the coupling between two cars. He fell and his foot was run over by the wheels of the freight car. He was taken across the street to the Good Samaritan Hospital where his condition was critical for a time because of the loss of blood and shock. Dr. Royal Sengstacken, who operated on his foot, feared that he would have to amputate to save the young man’s life, but he was able to save it by removing a few small bones. He said that he would probably never recover the full use of his foot. (Bristow)