Amazing Rescue on Local Train Tracks

"I had a lump in my throat. I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop the train in time," recounts train conductor, Shirley Brown.

It was a train conductor's worst nightmare-- spotting a car stranded on the track less than a quarter of a mile ahead.

That was the scene this morning in Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

Francois Truffaut, an 80-year-old tourist from Quebec City, believed to have gone into diabetic shock, became stranded in his vehicle at approximately 6 a.m.

Much to Truffaut's luck, James Laboke, a 17-year-old Sudanese refugee noticed the stopped vehicle while on his way to work. He sprinted to the nearest police station to get help.

Janet Paradiso, a captain on the police force, was on patrol in the area at the time of the incident. She could hear the whistle of the train upon arriving at the scene.

With no time to spare, she rammed her police cruiser into Truffaut’s 1987 Cadillac Seville, pushing it from the tracks.

Thirty seconds later, the train passed through the crossing.

“It was that close,” notes Brian Paul, Old Orchard's Police Chief.

Laboke has lived in the area for the past three years. He wakes every morning at 5 a.m. to walk four miles to his job as a waiter at the restaurant. Today he is being hailed a hero.

When asked about the rescue, his boss, Charles Champaigne, owner of the Eezy Breezy Restaurant on Grand Street, was not at all surprised by his actions.

“That young young man is one of my most responsible employees. He’s just a great kid.”

Laboke said later, “I just knew I couldn’t let that man get crushed by a train.”

Truffaut, the driver of the car, has been traveling to Old Orchard Beach since he was a child.

Speaking from his hospital bed he said, "I don't remember a thing."

He is currently listed in stable condition.