Tourist Narrowly Missed by Train at Old Orchard Beach

Tourist Narrowly Missed by Train at Old Orchard Beach
Danielle Curtis

A man was narrowly missed by a train Monday morning when his car stalled on the tracks in Old Orchard Beach minutes before the arrival of an Amtrak Downeaster.

80-year-old Francois Truffaut, a Canadian tourist, was found unconscious at the wheel of his locked car around 6 am by 17-year-old James Laboke, a resident of Old Orchard Beach. Laboke ran to the nearby police station when he was unable to wake Truffaut.

An Old Orchard Beach police captain, Janet Paradiso, was a mile away from the railroad crossing when she heard the call on the radio. When she arrived at the scene minutes later, she said she heard the train approaching.

“I knew there was no time,” she said. “I had to do something.”
Paradiso pushed Truffaut’s car from the tracks with her cruiser only thirty seconds before the train passed by, said Old Orchard Beach Police Chief Brian Paul.

Truffaut is a diabetic and according to the police report may have gone into insulin shock while driving across the tracks. He was brought to Southern Maine Medical Center where he is listed in stable condition, thanks to the quick action of both Laboke and Paradiso.

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

Laboke’s actions were no shock to his employer, Charles Champaigne.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all,” Champaigne said. “That young man is one of my most responsible employees. He’s just a great kid.”