A Refugee Hero

It was just another morning for the 17-year-old Sudanese refugee. He had no idea he would become a hero for an unconscious victim.

James Laboke was on his way to work at the Eezy Breezy Restaurant on East Grand Street in Old Orchard Beach, Maine when he discovered an unconscious body in the driver’s seat of a car.

The man in the car was 80-year-old Francois Truffaut, a tourist from Canada.
A little before 6:00 a.m. Laboke found the car stuck in the middle of train tracks. Tragedy was about to strike; the train was scheduled to come through town around 6:10 a.m. where it makes its stops in the summer.

The doors of the car were locked and Truffaut was not responding. Laboke knew he had to do something pounded his fists on the window, but never got a response.

The young man ran 100 yards to the police station where he reported the sighting. Janet Paradiso, a captain of the town’s police force, heard the call and immediately arrived at the scene.

“I knew there was no time, I had to do something,” said Paradiso.
Brian Paul, the chief of police in Old Orchard Beach, said that Paradiso rammed her police cruiser into Truffaut’s 1987 Cadillac to push it off the tracks.

Truffaut was listed in stable condition and admitted to being a diabetic when he arrived at Southern Maine Medical Center. “I don’t remember a thing,” said Truffaut.

The police report claims that Truffaut may have gone into insulin shock as he reached the railroad crossing causing him to go unconscious.

Through all of the chaos, Laboke reported to work on time and never mentioned anything about the incident to his boss, Charles Champaigne, who hired him about eight months ago. “It doesn’t surprise me at all. That young man is one of my most responsible employees. He’s just as great kid,” said Champaigne.

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

Laboke may know Old Orchard Beach for its long beach, amusement park, and delicious French fries as many others do, but now he can remember it was a place where he saved a man’s life.