PIMU doctors are rescuing teenage "train surfers" from three regions of Russia.

      September 23, 2025 11:18 Society

      Over the past months, three teenagers from Kursk, Penza and Voronezh with severe electrical injuries have been admitted to the Burn Center of the University Clinic PIMU in Nizhny Novgorod. All of them were electrocuted while attempting to climb onto railway vehicles, the clinic’s press service reported.

      According to the center’s chief physician Igor Arefyev, these are the so-called "zacepers" — teenagers who, for the thrill or to get an impressive photo for social media, climb onto the roofs of electric trains or get close to the contact wires. The voltage in these lines reaches 28,000 volts. By comparison, a household outlet of 220 volts can already be deadly.

      Igor Arefyev emphasizes that electrical injuries from an arc have nothing to do with household burns.

      "Contact with an electric arc leads to deep thermal burns, when not only the skin and subcutaneous tissue are burned out, but also muscles and tendons, and there is a systemic effect of high-voltage current on the body's systems and internal organs," he explained.

      One of the most severe cases is a 15-year-old teenager from Voronezh. He sustained burns to 75% of his body, as well as injuries from falling from a height after being struck by electricity. The young man was recorded as having damage to the heart, lungs and spinal cord, temporary paralysis of the legs and respiratory impairment. After his condition was stabilized by Voronezh doctors, the teenager was flown by air ambulance to Nizhny Novgorod. He is now in the PIMU Burn Center receiving the necessary treatment.

      This case is already the third in August and September. Earlier the center admitted a 21-year-old resident of Penza with burns over more than 50% of his body and a 14-year-old teenager from Kursk with injuries to 76% of his body surface. All of them were injured under similar circumstances. According to statistics, the PIMU burn department admits 10–15 teenagers with such injuries each year, including from the Nizhny Novgorod region. Peaks in hospitalizations occur in May, the summer months and early autumn.

      According to Igor Arefyev, such injuries often lead to disability. Even if life can be saved, years of rehabilitation and dozens of operations lie ahead.

      "After months of fighting for life in intensive care and the burn ward, a tormenting period of scar formation follows. Disfiguring scars restrict movement; the hands suffer particularly, up to the point of being unable to care for oneself. And because an adolescent’s body continues to grow while the scars do not, numerous corrective surgeries are required over decades," Igor Arefyev emphasizes.

      Medical professionals call on parents, teachers and the media to take a more active role in prevention. Teenagers need to be made aware that such "entertainments" can end tragically and permanently change their lives.

      Earlier a pediatrician told Nizhny Novgorod residents about health risks for children starting school for the first time.

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