My mom just taught me how to read and write.

Boy uses belt to stem bleeding when train cuts off his leg
April 4, 2001
Web posted at: 10:00 PM EDT (0200 GMT)

ABBEVILLE, South Carolina (AP) -- A boy whose leg was severed by a train used his belt as a tourniquet to save himself from bleeding to death -- a skill he learned from his mother when she was studying to be a nurse.

Alex Compton, 10, was crossing the tracks near his home Monday when his foot got caught on some rocks.

After the accident, he removed his belt and tightened it around his thigh to stem the bleeding, rescue workers said. He learned the technique from his mother, Lisa Compton, who had studied first aid at nursing school.

The boy's great aunt, Mary Revels, said Alex told his mother he wouldn't have lost so much blood if he had put the belt around his leg sooner. "And then he apologized to her for going by the tracks," Revels said.

A neighbor found Alex along the tracks. His leg also was found but doctors couldn't reattach it, Revels said.

He was listed in fair condition Tuesday.

Abbeville County Coroner Ronnie Ashley said he never knew anyone to survive such an accident.

"Alex is a very, very brave child," Ashley said. "He's something special. His mother said... that he keeps wanting to know how he's going to ride his bicycle and how is he going to run and play with other kids."