Full Story- Man Almost Crushed by Train at Old Orchard Beach

80-year-old Francois Truffaut, of Quebec City, Canada was almost crushed to death by the Amtrak Downeaster today at about 6 a.m.

The site of the almost-accident, Old Orchard Beach, is a summer tourist community on the southern Maine seacoast. It is best known for its long beach, amusement park, and its French fries, although today, not everything was jolly and happy.
If it wasn't for James Laboke, 17, of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Truffaut would have been dead. Laboke said the man appeared to be unconscious. The doors were locked and the car's engine was running as the car idled on the train tracks. Laboke ran 100 yards to the police station since he didn't have a cell phone.

Luckily, a cruiser was parked about a mile away from the railroad crossing. Janet Paradiso, captain of Old Orchard Beach Police, arrived at the scene at 6:05 a.m. after she got the call about the stranded vehicle. She heard the train's whistle just as she arrived. "I knew there was no time. I had to do something," Janet said.

According to Chief Brian Paul, of Old Orchard Beach Police, Paradiso rammed her police car into the 1987 pink Cadillac Seville and pushed it from the tracks. Thirty seconds later, the train passed through the crossing at about 40 miles per hour.
Amtrack Downeaster conductor, Shirley Temple, of Portland, Maine, was watching through the windshield as the terror unfolded in front of her eyes. “I didn’t know what to do,” Temple said. “I couldn’t stop the train, without endangering my passengers so I closed my eyes and prayed to God that when I opened my eyes back up, everything would be fine.”
Temple did end up seeing Paradiso slam into the back of Truffaut’s car and she knew it was going to be okay. “I was so relieved to see the track cleared because for a minute my heart was sitting in my stomach.”

Later on, the hero Laboke, said "I never thought about it. I just knew I couldn't let that man get crushed by a train."

Laboke's boss at the Eezy Breezy Restaurant, Charles Champaigne, wasn't surprised to hear about Laboke's decision to speak up. "That young man is one of my most responsible employees. He's just a great kid," Champaigne said.
Laboke is a Sudanese refugee and had been working for Champaigne for about eight months and walks four miles to work every day.

Truffaut, a tourist of Old Orchard Beach since he was a kid, is now at Southern Maine Medical Center and is in stable condition. He claims, “I don’t remember a thing.” He is a diabetic, and may have gone into insulin shock just as he reached the railroad crossing.