THOMASTON — First, there was the sound. A vehicle up above on New County Road (Route 1), grating against the guard rail, traveling at what police believe to be a high rate of speed. The car eventually jumped the rail, and tipped over, landing on its roof before coming to a stop on the embankment, almost at the pavement to the street below. Just opposite the pavement from that final landing location, Lillian Knight stood watching, having paused from shoveling at the first sound of metal against metal.

Thomaston Police, Fire and EMS were called to the area of New County and Old County roads, in Thomaston, at approximately 9:05 a.m., following a 911 report that a vehicle had gone over the guard rail at that location. As responders started to arrive, a report of an entrapped individual prompted a request for Rockland’s extrication equipment.

Knight never hesitated. She sprang to action long before the arrival of authorities. Knight rushed into her house and yelled for her great nephew to call 911. Blake Knight, 17, was waiting for transportation to school. Blake is autistic, yet capable. When he said that he didn’t know how to call 911, his great aunt patiently told him: press the numbers and tell the dispatchers that a car went over the guard rail near the intersection of Old County Road and New County Road.

With Knight’s instructions communicated to Blake, Knight ran back out, shoveled a path to the driver’s door. Not able to open it, she shoveled to the other side.

That’s what emergency responders do, she said. They don’t hesitate, especially when no one else has arrived yet. She’s CPR certified and takes first aid courses, and she steps up when needed. She stayed with him, asked him basic questions about himself to calm and distract him until sirens loomed and apparatus arrived.

After stepping aside for EMS, she praised Blake for a job well done. When you get to school, she told him, make sure to tell your teachers what you did this morning. They’ll be proud of you, too.

Praise to Knight is met with a shrug. This might make for a future family story regarding Blake, but Knight has other stories of springing to action. Only one, though, involves a vehicle going over the rail in that location, and that was from her childhood.

Today’s driver, a single male occupant of a BMW XE, southbound on Route 1, was extricated with the help of Thomaston and Rockland firefighters and transported to Pen Bay Hospital by Thomaston EMS. At the time of the call, Rockland FD had just completed a call regarding a fire alarm activation at a lodging facility. 

Creek Hill hauled the vehicle away.

Reach Sarah Thompson at news@penbaypilot.com