A 9-year-old boy whose feet were severed by a passing freight train is "doing fine," his mother said Saturday, adding "as well as a 9-year-old can do."
Marshawn Kenneth Farr-Robinson lost both feet Thursday to a train passing near his St. Paul house. A neighbor said Friday that Marshawn appeared to be trying to jump onto the ladder of a slow-moving train when he fell.
Reached briefly by phone Saturday, Marshawn's mother, Kimberly Farr, said her son was "real stable."
"He's doing wonderfully for the situation," she said, declining to comment further. "God has been good."
A spokeswoman at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare in St. Paul said Marshawn remained in the hospital's care Saturday and was in fair condition. Previously, his condition had not been known.
Neighbor Dave Thornton, who witnessed the accident, rode his bike a few blocks near Farrington Street and W. Ivy Avenue, where there is a break in the dense brush lining the tracks, and saw the boy crawling out of the weeds with his feet missing.
Despite his injuries, Marshawn was remarkably calm and seemed more worried about people trying to get in touch with his mother than anything else, Thornton said.
BNSF Railway Co. owns the tracks and has no-trespassing signage in place in the area, said Amy McBeth, a railroad spokeswoman. St. Paul police don't believe foul play was involved, and BNSF will be conducting its own investigation into the incident.
