BOSTON -- A Canton, Mass., man is recovering in fair condition with back injuries after getting hit by a train in a collision that some said should have killed him.

The victim, identified as Jack Daniels, 61, of Canton, was crossing the tracks at the Canton Junction Station about 11:20 a.m. Thursday when he was hit by a northbound Amtrak Acela train heading from New York to Boston which was speeding by at 90 mph.

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The train does not normally make a stop at that station.

Witnesses said the man didn't know what hit him.

"I said, 'Sir, you just got hit by a train.' He says, 'No, I didn't.' I go, 'Yes, you did,' and I put my arms around him ... and he goes, 'Where's my teeth?' and his back was ripped, all the way down," witness Dave Fortin said.

He said the man was clearly in shock and refused to lie down afterward.

"He was just looking for his teeth. His teeth were on the ground," Fortin said.

Daniels was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital with several non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

He told onlookers he tried the dangerous crossing because he wanted to get a cup of coffee at a nearby shop.

One witness said he couldn't believe Daniels survived.

"Those trains move fast. I'm surprised he was conscious. It's just unbelievable," witness John O'Brien said.

Police said anyone trying to cross the tracks wouldn't have much time to react in the face of an oncoming train.

"It comes very, very fast. He probably had about a second, a second and a half, to make a decision," MBTA Transit Police Sgt. Preston Horton said.

The train was delayed for two hours.

"We have fences. We have signs, big yellow lines and people still choose to trespass. And if there's any message that we can get out, it's please, do not go on active railroad tracks," Horton said.

MBTA and Amtrak police were investigating.