Madison Man's 'Heroic Effort' in Railroad Rescue Honored

A resident who pulled a convulsing woman off railroad tracks at the Madison Train Station last month was honored with the Mayor's Award for heroic effort at the borough's reorganization meeting.

Madison resident Gerard Raho reacted quickly to pull a woman who was having a seizure from the tracks minutes before a train pulled in.
 
Raho was waiting for a train on Dec. 18 when he saw the woman fall across the tracks. He 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 in an interview.

Raho and another man started to pick up the woman, 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. EMTs and police responded, and within a few minutes the woman was talking.

Raho didn't take the 4:10 p.m. train, but got on the next one.

Raho's family attended the New Year's Day meeting. After presenting Raho with the award, Madison Mayor Bob Conley discussed extraordinary and everyday heroism in his 2014 address.

He said extraordinary heroes are not just in the right place at the right time.

They're "the right person in the right place at the right time," he said.