HOBE SOUND, Fla. (CBS12) — What started as a routine drive home from work turned into a terrifying race against time for Debbie Spoelstra.
Spoelstra says she was turning onto Bridge Road from Dixie Highway in Hobe Sound Friday evening when a railroad crossing arm suddenly came down on her car, leaving her trapped on the tracks.
Dash-cam video captured the tense moments that followed.
A train’s horn can be heard as it quickly moved closer and closer to Spoelstra’s red car as it sat between the crossing gates. Then, a young man runs toward her.
“I was pretty much frozen,” Spoelstra said. “Then I thought about getting out of the car, and then at that moment I saw Josiah running across the railroad tracks.”
That man was 23-year-old Josiah Baur.
Baur said he left work late that evening and was on his way home to Port Saint Lucie when he stopped at the crossing. He was on the other side of the tracks when he saw what was happening.
“You only get a couple seconds to react,” Baur said.
He immediately ran toward the crossing.
“I just took off running,” he said.
Baur reached the crossing and lifted the gate with both arms, giving Spoelstra enough time to back her car away from the tracks before the train came through.
He said he first looked to see where the train was.
“It was on her side, so I ran up and pushed up on it and released it just in time for her to back up,” Baur said.
Another witness, Lizzy Dominguez, was behind Baur’s car when she saw what was happening.
She and the others in her car could only watch.
“We were just saying, ‘Please, God, please, God, please, God,’” Dominguez said. “We were frozen in the car. We couldn’t move.”
After the rescue, Dominguez took a photo of Baur and posted it on social media, hoping to find him and thank him for what he had done.
Lizzy Dominguez witnessed the harrowing moment and Josiah Baur’s act of bravery. She took a photo and posted her experience to the Hobe Sound Happenings Facebook group. (Courtesy: Lizzy Dominguez/Facebook)
“It was very emotional,” Dominguez said. “We thought, oh, we just witnessed a miracle.”
Spoelstra and Baur met again at the railroad crossing Sunday.
When they saw each other, they hugged.
Spoelstra said she’s grateful to Baur and believes things could have turned out very differently if he hadn’t been there.
“I was just amazed. You know, first of all, that a total stranger, would help another person,” she said. “I won’t ever forget what he’s done for me. He is a true American hero.”
Baur, however, doesn’t describe himself that way.
“I’m just very fortunate that God put me right where I was,” he said. “He’s got a plan and we just got to follow it sometimes. We don’t understand why.”
Witnesses say the crossing arm malfunctioned during the incident.
See also: Foodborne illnesses are rising. What not to eat right now.
Spoelstra says she reported the problem to Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway line and was told someone would come out to inspect the gate.
The incident remains a powerful reminder of how quickly a dangerous situation at a railroad crossing can unfold and how one person’s decision to act can make all the difference.
For Spoelstra, there is also a personal connection that makes the story feel even more remarkable.
She says her baby grandson shares the same name as the man who came to her rescue: Josiah.