Teenage boy hit by 25,000 volts while trespassing on railway spent two months in burns unit

A student has told how he was left scarred for life after being hit by 25,000 volts while trespassing on the railway.

Inigo Sweeney-Lynch, 17, suffered horrific burns to a third of his body when his clothes caught fire and melted. He then had to learn to walk again and spent two months in a specialist hospital burns unit. The teenager has now joined forces with Network Rail to spearhead a campaign warning other young people of the dangers.

Mr Sweeney-Lynch, of Forest Hill, was climbing an electricity sub-station wall in Hackbridge with a friend when the huge current arced into his body in May 2017. The pair, then 15, claimed they were playing a game of “Danger of Death” after watching free-running videos on YouTube.

Mr Sweeney-Lynch said: “One minute I was climbing, then it all went black. I woke up and I was dangling over a wall unconscious and my clothes were on fire. It’s hard to describe the shock — I didn’t know what had happened.

“I fell about 8ft off the wall into brambles and used my right arm to put out the flames. There were holes all over my clothes and my tracksuit bottoms had melted into my skin. I was aware of this incredible pain.”

Network Rail’s You vs Train campaign raises awareness of hidden dangers, especially the third rail which carries enough electricity to kill or cause life-changing injuries.

After being electrocuted, Mr Sweeney-Lynch was wrapped head-to-toe in cling film and bandages and transferred to Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford.

He said: “I had four operations to graft skin on to the worst burns, including a chunk of my leg which they used to patch up my elbow where the flesh and muscle had completely burnt down to the bone. The physios had to help me learn to walk again — and that was really tough. Even sitting up in bed was painful. I needed 8,000 calories a day because my body was using so much energy keeping itself alive and healing. My scars are pretty bad but it’s not my face and I’m lucky to be alive.”

He added: “I haven’t lost my sense of adventure and I wouldn’t say ‘don’t be adventurous’ to anyone, but I would say learn from my mistakes.”

The You vs Train campaign, run by Network Rail and British Transport Police, says the only way to prevent electrocution, being hit by a train or injured by trackside facilities is to never stray onto the railway.

Mr Sweeney-Lynch’s mother Sharon said: “We are so thankful we still have him — it could so easily have been a different, unthinkable outcome.” Research shows one in 10 teenagers have admitted walking along rail lines, and a third do not realise the dangers.