RCMP officer saves woman from train tracks with seconds to spare

Quick thinking by a Nova Scotia Mountie was credited with saving a life on Sunday when a car stopped on railroad tracks near Truro, N.S., was pushed off just seconds before a train rumbled through.

RCMP were called to the scene just south of Brookfield, at  2 a.m. Sunday, about a car idling in the middle of the tracks. On the way to the crossing, police received word that a CN freight train was coming and was only minutes away.

That's when RCMP Const. Frank Deschenes, of Northeast Nova Traffic Services, used his cruiser to push the vehicle off the tracks — with about 45 seconds to spare before the oncoming train would have smashed into the car.

Deschenes prevented a possible derailment and loss of life, police said.

A 26-year-old woman faces a charge of impaired driving.