Saved on the Tracks

An 80-year-old man was stranded then saved from the Downeaster train tracks this morning by a police officer who was only a mile from the scene when she received the call.
“I knew there was no time,” said Janet Paradiso, the captain of the police force. “I had to do something.”
Francois Truffaut was traveling in a 1987 Cadillac from Quebec City, Canada when he stopped on the train tracks at 6 a.m. From the police report it said Truffaut was a diabetic and could have gone into shock just as he reached the railroad crossing.
Luckily, 17-year-old James Laboke saw the vehicle on his way to work at Eezy Breezy Restaurant on East Grand Street and immediately ran 100 yards to the police station. He reported a man slumped over the steering wheel who appeared unconscious. The doors were locked and the engine was running while he pounded on the windows to get the driver to wake up. Paradiso heard the announcement on the radio and immediately rushed to the scene.
Paradiso rammed her police cruiser into Truffaut’s car to push it from the tracks 30 seconds before a train passed. “It was that close,” said Paul.
Truffaut was headed to Old Orchard Beach, Maine where he traveled every year since he was a child and never made it to his destination. “I don’t remember a thing,” said Truffaut.
But he was listed in stable condition at the Southern Maine Medical Center.
As for Loboke he reported to work on time without saying a word about the incident to his boss Charles Champaigne. “It didn’t surprise me at all,” said Champaigne. “He’s a great kid.”