Madison Man Pulls Convulsing Woman From Train Tracks

A borough man who was waiting for a train at the Madison Train Station Wednesday afternoon reacted quickly to pull a woman who was having a seizure from the tracks minutes before a train pulled in.

Gerard Raho said in an interview Thursday he saw the woman fall across the tracks, and knew the 4:10 p.m. train was due in a couple of minutes.

"It was crystal clear what I needed to do," he said.

She was convulsing, and Raho realized she was in distress. Raho and another man helped start to pick her up, but lost their grip. Raho grabbed under her arms and pulled her onto the platform.

A doctor who also was waiting for a train instructed them to cushion her head, and Raho used his coat to do that.

Raho said snow on the tracks might have cushioned her fall. Police and EMTs responded, and the woman was talking within a few minutes, he said.

Raho said a police officer told him he did a great job.

Raho said the "whole experience was kind of surreal, it happens pretty quickly."

The 4:10 p.m. train arrived. Raho took the next one.

"It's nice to see you still have people out there willing to go to the aid of another person," Madison Police Chief Darren Dachisen told NJ.com.

Raho said he did not get the names of the others who went to help.