By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 7:19 PM on 27th January 2012 . The teenager who watched her legs get severed at the knees while she attempted to jump aboard a moving freight train today revealed four months on that she ‘clearly thought’ she was about to die. Anna Beninati, 18, of Sandy, Utah, was studying music therapy at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and was trying to board the 18mph train with three male friends in September in Longmont. The student, who was 17 at the time, told MSNBC on Friday that she has much to be thankful for and ‘life doesn’t end’ now. But she will ‘never be able to forget this horrible mistake that I made’. Scroll down for video . Recovering: Anna Beninati, 18, of Sandy, Utah, was studying music therapy at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and was trying to board the 18mph train with three male friends in September in Longmont . TV appearance: Anna Beninati, pictured centre, with her mother Debbie, left, was interviewed on MSNBC's Today show by presenter Ann Curry . ‘I remember looking down at my leg . dragging on the ground, looking at the wheels and how fast they were going,’ she told MSNBC. ‘I remember looking down there and thinking… what have I . done? ‘I felt my femur snap,’ she added. ‘I . remember thinking clearly that I was about to die. I’m going to pay for . it for the rest of my life. I will never be able to forget this horrible . mistake that I made.’ She remembered thinking for ‘several . minutes before I even ran for the train’ that something was going to go . wrong and it was a bad idea. ‘I went for it anyway,’ she told MSNBC. ‘I’m paying for it’. Anna said she is extremely grateful . for the support of her family since the incident, although she was . ‘angry’ and had a ‘hard time’ soon after the incident while she came to . terms with what happened. Getting along: Anna said she is extremely grateful for the support of her family since the incident, although she was 'angry' and had a 'hard time' soon after the incident while she came to terms with what happened . Sports: Anna, who has since been studying online courses at CSU, has even been skiing with Wasatch Adaptive Sports in Utah and is intending to compete with a mono-ski in a tournament in March . The student, who had train hopped . almost a dozen times before, slipped and fell beneath the steel . wheels as she tried to board and her legs were crushed under the 118-car . train last autumn. 'I remember thinking clearly that I was about to die. I’m going to pay for it for the rest of my life' Anna Beninati . She remembered being under the train . for up to six seconds, reported the Longmont Times-Call, thinking to . herself immediately after: 'A: What do I do now? B: What did I just do . to myself?’ The four friends had visited Denver on . Labor Day weekend and they had been given a ride by one of the young . men’s fathers to Longmont on the way back to CSU, reported the Longmont . Times-Call. But the father was unaware of the . group’s plan to jump aboard a train from there to Fort Collins. Anna . said their idea was quite common and the railway goes through the . university campus. Wheelchair: Two employees at Longmont United Hospital - Nicole Crowley and Kathy Poiry - were honoured by Anna along with others at a ceremony on Saturday . Freight locomotive: The student, who had train hopped almost a dozen times before, slipped and fell beneath the train's steel wheels as she tried to board and her legs were crushed . The student had just seen one friend . make it onto the train and another slip but roll away to safety. She . decided to go for it, despite concerns she ‘might not fare so well’. 'I remember looking down there and thinking… what have I done?' Anna Beninati . One of her friends, Charlie Hamilton, . 25, a former Army medic, pulled her from underneath the train and two . hospital staff, who were stopped at a rail crossing, ran over to help . him begin first aid. The employees at Longmont United . Hospital - Nicole Crowley and Kathy Poiry - were honoured along with . others at a ceremony earlier this month, reported the Longmont . Times-Call. ‘I never would have made it this far . if it weren't for these guys,’ Anna said she realised when she turned 18 . on Christmas Eve last month. She has had 11 surgeries on her legs since . the accident. In hospital: Anna Beninati, seen last September with friends, from left, Sean Halla, Charlie Hamilton and Micauley Ayraud in Longmont, Colorado. Anna, then 17, suffered the loss of both legs . Anna, who has since been studying . online courses at CSU, has even been skiing with Wasatch Adaptive Sports . in Utah and is intending to compete with a mono-ski in a tournament in . March. 'I learn more from her every day than I'm sure she's learned from me' Debbie Beninati . She has been playing piano, guitar and . bassoon and has spoken in her younger brother’s elementary school class . about safety issues. ‘To see her come away from this . tragedy with this incredible attitude,’ her mother Debbie Beninati told . MSNBC, ‘truthfully, I learn more from her every day than I'm sure she's . learned from me.’ See video here . Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy .
Utah teenager Anna Beninati tried to board train in Longmont, Colorado .
Student slipped and fell beneath steel wheels - and her legs were crushed .
She remembers feeling femur snap and will 'never forget what happened'
By . Mark Duell . Last updated at 7:19 PM on 27th January 2012 . The teenager who watched her legs get severed at the knees while she attempted to jump aboard a moving freight train today revealed four months on that she ‘clearly thought’ she was about to die. Anna Beninati, 18, of Sandy, Utah, was studying music therapy at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and was trying to board the 18mph train with three male friends in September in Longmont. The student, who was 17 at the time, told MSNBC on Friday that she has much to be thankful for and ‘life doesn’t end’ now. But she will ‘never be able to forget this horrible mistake that I made’. Scroll down for video . Recovering: Anna Beninati, 18, of Sandy, Utah, was studying music therapy at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and was trying to board the 18mph train with three male friends in September in Longmont . TV appearance: Anna Beninati, pictured centre, with her mother Debbie, left, was interviewed on MSNBC's Today show by presenter Ann Curry . ‘I remember looking down at my leg . dragging on the ground, looking at the wheels and how fast they were going,’ she told MSNBC. ‘I remember looking down there and thinking… what have I . done? ‘I felt my femur snap,’ she added. ‘I . remember thinking clearly that I was about to die. I’m going to pay for . it for the rest of my life. I will never be able to forget this horrible . mistake that I made.’ She remembered thinking for ‘several . minutes before I even ran for the train’ that something was going to go . wrong and it was a bad idea. ‘I went for it anyway,’ she told MSNBC. ‘I’m paying for it’. Anna said she is extremely grateful . for the support of her family since the incident, although she was . ‘angry’ and had a ‘hard time’ soon after the incident while she came to . terms with what happened. Getting along: Anna said she is extremely grateful for the support of her family since the incident, although she was 'angry' and had a 'hard time' soon after the incident while she came to terms with what happened . Sports: Anna, who has since been studying online courses at CSU, has even been skiing with Wasatch Adaptive Sports in Utah and is intending to compete with a mono-ski in a tournament in March . The student, who had train hopped . almost a dozen times before, slipped and fell beneath the steel . wheels as she tried to board and her legs were crushed under the 118-car . train last autumn. 'I remember thinking clearly that I was about to die. I’m going to pay for it for the rest of my life' Anna Beninati . She remembered being under the train . for up to six seconds, reported the Longmont Times-Call, thinking to . herself immediately after: 'A: What do I do now? B: What did I just do . to myself?’ The four friends had visited Denver on . Labor Day weekend and they had been given a ride by one of the young . men’s fathers to Longmont on the way back to CSU, reported the Longmont . Times-Call. But the father was unaware of the . group’s plan to jump aboard a train from there to Fort Collins. Anna . said their idea was quite common and the railway goes through the . university campus. Wheelchair: Two employees at Longmont United Hospital - Nicole Crowley and Kathy Poiry - were honoured by Anna along with others at a ceremony on Saturday . Freight locomotive: The student, who had train hopped almost a dozen times before, slipped and fell beneath the train's steel wheels as she tried to board and her legs were crushed . The student had just seen one friend . make it onto the train and another slip but roll away to safety. She . decided to go for it, despite concerns she ‘might not fare so well’. 'I remember looking down there and thinking… what have I done?' Anna Beninati . One of her friends, Charlie Hamilton, . 25, a former Army medic, pulled her from underneath the train and two . hospital staff, who were stopped at a rail crossing, ran over to help . him begin first aid. The employees at Longmont United . Hospital - Nicole Crowley and Kathy Poiry - were honoured along with . others at a ceremony earlier this month, reported the Longmont . Times-Call. ‘I never would have made it this far . if it weren't for these guys,’ Anna said she realised when she turned 18 . on Christmas Eve last month. She has had 11 surgeries on her legs since . the accident. In hospital: Anna Beninati, seen last September with friends, from left, Sean Halla, Charlie Hamilton and Micauley Ayraud in Longmont, Colorado. Anna, then 17, suffered the loss of both legs . Anna, who has since been studying . online courses at CSU, has even been skiing with Wasatch Adaptive Sports . in Utah and is intending to compete with a mono-ski in a tournament in . March. 'I learn more from her every day than I'm sure she's learned from me' Debbie Beninati . She has been playing piano, guitar and . bassoon and has spoken in her younger brother’s elementary school class . about safety issues. ‘To see her come away from this . tragedy with this incredible attitude,’ her mother Debbie Beninati told . MSNBC, ‘truthfully, I learn more from her every day than I'm sure she's . learned from me.’ See video here . Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy .
But she will ‘never be able to forget this in September in Longmont . TV appearance: Anna with what happened. Getting along: Anna said she fell beneath the steel . wheels as she tried to board and her legs were crushed under the 118-car almost a dozen times before, slipped and fell