17-Year-Old Saves Man from Oncoming Train

For James Laboke, a 17-year-old Sudanese refugee, his daily walk to work is usually nothing out of the ordinary. Today however, was a different story.

At 6 a.m. Laboke came upon a stalled car on the railroad tracks with an unconscious man slumped over the steering wheel. According to a police report, he pounded on the window, but received no response. Without a cell phone, Laboke ran the 100 yards to the police station, reporting what he had seen.

A mile away from the railroad, Captain Janet Paradiso received a call on her radio about the stranded vehicle. As she arrived, she heard the train’s whistle. Before the train could intercept them, she rammed her police cruiser into the 1987 pink Cadillac Seville and pushed it from the tracks. Thirty seconds later, the Amtrak train passed through, travelling at about 40 miles per hour.

“When this baby gets up a head of steam, it takes a mile to stop her,” said the conductor of the oncoming train, Shirley Temple. Worried for her passenger’s safety if she chose to slam on the brakes, she could only watch in horror as the train neared the trapped vehicle. “I had a lump in my throat watching the whole thing.”

The man in the car was 80-year-old Francois Truffaut, a tourist from Quebec City. "I don't remember a thing," he said later from a hospital bed aat Southern Maine Medical Center.

He was listed in stable condition. Truffaut, a diabetic, is said to have gone into insulin shock just as he reached the railroad crossing. He has been coming to old Orchard Beach since he was a child.

As for the Laboke, community members are not shocked at his display of bravery. “It doesn’t surprise me at all,” said Charles Champaigne, Laboke’s boss at the Eezy Breezy Restaurant. “That young man is one of my most responsible employees. He’s just a great kid.”

Asked about his heroism, Laboke said, “I never thought about it. I just knew I couldn’t let that man get crushed by a train.”

Amtrak was not available for comment. “I’m just glad everything worked out okay,” said Temple.