Officer risks life to save man from train

A Masterton policewoman was just seconds away from being hit by a train before she saved the life of a distraught man walking along the tracks.

"I was just so focused on him. I knew he was determined. I kept trying to keep him talking but then when I saw the train I don't know whether it was 100m away or 20m away, but it was awfully close and I just knew I had to grab him and do what I could," Constable Sherril Adams told The Dominion Post.

Just moments before the train thundered past, Constable Adams lifted and threw the heavily built man from the tracks.

The incident began about 9.30am yesterday when police received numerous calls from the man's friends, concerned for his wellbeing.

Mrs Adams found the man at the railway station, but when he saw her he walked onto the track.

"For some time we were engaged in conversation but he kept moving along the railway lines."

He was zigzagging across tracks with Mrs Adams remaining a few steps behind.

"As the train got closer he seemed more intent on staying on the track. He took his eye off me for just a second, so while I hadn't planned anything, I just made up my mind then and there to grab him by the clothes and toss him to the side."

The man is now in the care of mental health services.

- NZPA