Woman Recalls Moment She Was Electrocuted on Train Tracks: 'Going to Die'

A woman from the U.K. has shared how she was left with lifelong scars and required multiple surgeries after she said she was "electrocuted" by a train track when she was just 15 years old.

Dinusha Ilanperuma, from Surrey, England, shared her story on TikTok on September 11 where it has since been viewed more than 430,000 times.

With the aim of educating young people and adults on the dangers of train tracks, Ilanperuma posted a three-minute video sharing her story, memories, and injuries from that day.

The National Safety Council reports that in the U.S., railroad deaths totaled 893 in 2021, while there were 5,781 recorded non-fatal injuries.

Ninety-four percent of deaths were attributed to trespassers, and while most injuries were attributed to rail employees, there were a recorded 527 rail-related injuries as a result of trespassing.

The accident happened while Ilanperuma was walking along a rail track in England, where almost 50 percent of rail lines are electrified.

In the U.S., some passenger rail lines have also been converted to electric power, but most are still diesel-powered. While new electrified very high-speed rail (VHSR) lines are being considered in other areas of the country, they are currently awaiting further funding.

On the night of the accident, Ilanperuma had been at a party where she had her first alcoholic drink.

She told Newsweek: "I was 15 years old and I went to an after party. I could not go home because of my parents—we had cultural differences and I did not want to face my parents in the state I was in because of their own beliefs. In their country, most girls at that age wouldn't even go out, let alone go out and get drunk."

Instead, Ilanperuma asked an ex to pick her up and she wanted to go and see her best friend at the after-party. But when she arrived she found a group of boys she did not get along with. "They were always so nasty to be for absolutely no reason," she said. "I was drunk and I was going through stuff at home."

Ilanperuma recalled that during the party, the group started walking to the nearby rail station and she took off her heels. As the group continued to upset her, she walked away and continued on the rail tracks alone.

"My heel fell on the track and the train was literally five minutes away," recalled Ilanperuma in the video. "I didn't know that it's electric on the actual rails."

As a boy held out his hand to help her up from the track, Ilanperuma missed a step and instead put her foot on the rail to get back up. At this moment, she collapsed as the high-voltage electricity made its way through her body.

"I just felt at that point I was going to die," recalled Ilanperuma. "All I thought about at that point was my mom and my best friend screaming."

While Ilanperuma does not recall much of what happened next, nearby trains were halted while emergency services got her off the tracks. She spent two weeks in hospital and has since had six to eight surgeries on her body.

"I have a massive scar on my left arm," she shared. "A big one on my shoulder, two big ones on my left leg, and two on my foot."

As thousands of replies and reactions rolled in from TikTok users and viewers of the video, Ilanperuma explained how important she felt it was to share her story.

"I was inspired to raise awareness about the dangers of track tracks as I feel like not many people know," she said. "[On] the other side, I wanted to raise awareness about how hard it was when you are constantly being picked on at school and how horrible it was to experience such vile behaviors. I'm not saying that getting bullied was the cause of how I felt, but just maybe looking back at my life and what I had to deal with was not nice at all.

"I did feel very alone and hurt throughout my whole childhood," she said. "Looking back, yeah I was drunk, but I clearly felt a certain way about wanting to end my life so I just wanted to fully talk about my experiences."

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.