Officer saves woman who fainted and fell onto Metro tracks

A 51-year-old woman was rescued from the tracks of the Madrid Metro on Monday afternoon, after fainting while waiting for a train at the Marqués de Vadillo station. The incident took place at 1.50pm, just as a train was about to arrive. Rubén A. G., an off-duty National Police officer who happened to be on the platform at the time, pulled the woman to safety after hearing the noise of her fall.

“I was looking at some notes when I heard a thud and a woman scream,” the 38-year-old officer explained. “It wasn’t even a case of her having two minutes to spare, there were just 80 meters to spare,” he explained, in reference to the proximity of the train.

The victim, identified by her first name and initial as María Luisa N., was treated by a doctor who also happened to be in the station, as well as an ambulance crew, who took her to the Doce de Octubre hospital. “When I picked her up she was a completely dead weight,” explained the officer. “She was unconscious and when she came around she was totally groggy. She told me that she was very hot and that she couldn’t remember anything else.”

María Luisa, who was being treated for light injuries, told EL PAÍS that she had no idea why she had fainted. “It happened so quickly,” she said. “I lost consciousness but I don’t know why.”

The driver of the Metro train was able to stop without having to use the emergency brake, after he saw someone on the track. He then informed the control center of the incident, which put their emergency protocols into motion. “We immediately warned the next train so that it stopped before reaching the Marqués de Vadillo station,” a Metro de Madrid spokesperson said. “The rescue operation lasted just five minutes.”