Red Sox Fan Electrocuted Trying To ‘Train Surf’ While Leaving Yankee Stadium
A Boston Red Sox fan from New Hampshire was killed last night in a poorly-conceived stunt aboard a Connecticut-bound train following a Red Sox loss to the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Michael Vigeant, 24, of Hudson, New Hampshire, climbed atop the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)’s New Haven Line train in his Red Sox gear, the Union Leader reports. He came into contact with a high voltage electrified wire carrying 16,000 volts of electricity, and was electrocuted near Mamaroneck in Westchester County. First responders who were on the train attempted CPR, but Vigeant was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
“The train came to a stop, and after awhile the conductor came through looking very nervous, asking if there were any doctors or nurses on board,” Bob Fredericks, a writer with the New York Post and a passenger on the train, told the Union Leader. “A woman who said she was a nurse went running past me. She was gone for about 40 minutes then came back looking pretty shaken, saying a man had climbed on top of the train and was electrocuted.”
“Our sympathies go to the family during this very difficult time. The incident is under investigation and we will release further information when it is available,” said Nancy Gamerman a Metro-North spokesman, according to WBZ CBS Boston.
A NH man was killed Wednesday night less than an hour after watching the Red Sox lose to the Yankees at Yankee Stadium, after officials say he climbed on top of a Conn.-bound train, where he came into contact with high-voltage overhead electrified wires: https://t.co/Lm5vI89ov8 pic.twitter.com/OjbZKyiY5p
— UnionLeader.com (@UnionLeader) September 21, 2018
Vigeant’s brother had also climbed outside the train, but hadn’t reached the top of the car when his brother was killed.
Another witness, Michael Pellicci, of Stamford, Connecticut, who was also aboard the train, told the Mamaroneck Daily Voice that he saw the entire event occur.
“We saw them and wondered how they had gotten from one end of the train to the other so quickly,” said Pellicci. “That’s when the conductor got wise to what they were doing and stopped the older brother to tell him how stupid it was.”
Pellicci then saw a spark, heard a thud, and watched Vigeant fall from the top of the train.
“You could see his body folded in half and one arm that was black,” he said. “It was horrible.”
Pellicci also added that the older brother, who was intoxicated, became loud and belligerent while EMTs attempted to revive his brother.
“He was scaring women and young children on the train,” Pellicci said. “My buddy and I kept an eye on him in case he got in the area and along with others on the train, we decided we would restrain him if he managed to get into the area.”
