ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orlando man is fine Friday afternoon after a good Samaritan pulled him from his car that was stuck on railroad tracks when it was struck by a SunRail train.

“God saved him from that kind of accident because he was going to lose his life,” said Claudette Ruffin, a friend of Jean Merseille.

The 73-year-old’s Honda Civic got stuck on the tracks when he tried to turn it around Thursday at 6 p.m. near South Orange Avenue and East Oak Ridge Road, Florida Department of Transportation officials said.

State troopers gave the Merseille a $114 citation for stopping on the train tracks.

Merseille told Channel 9's Roy Ramos one driver stopped to help push his car off the tracks, but it was too late once the crossing arms came down.

“Move, move, move,” Merseille said.

“So they were telling you to move to get off the tracks?” Ramos asked.

“Yeah,” Merseille said.

But it was a good Samaritan, Nelson Perez, 30, who pulled him to safety just before the impact. He said he was walking along the street when he saw the car on the tracks.

"So I'm like, 'You know, what's going on with this car?'" Nelson said. "I said (to Merseille) 'You've got to get out of the car. You've got to get out of the car.' He said, 'No, no, let me get my car.' I said, 'No, papa, you've got to get out of the car.'" 

"He is very lucky," Ruffin said.

Troopers said 38 passengers were on board. No one on the train was hurt.

Once Marseille was out of the car, Perez said he tried to move the stalled vehicle out of the way, but it was too late.

"By the time I got in the car, the railroad, the train was coming. So I just let it go," Nelson said. "I'm really thankful that I was there to save you, and you have a friend here, and a brother. That was God's will power that I did. And thank you God."

Cox Media Group