The man was unharmed.
A New Jersey police officer with only a few months of experience has saved the life of a man lying down in the path of an oncoming train.
Perth Amboy police officer Kyle L. Savoia’s body camera was recording as he raced to get the man off the tracks as the train came just inches from where the man was lying face-down.
“Move, move, move!” Savoia can be heard frantically screaming as he sprints to rescue the man.
Savoia waved to stop the train and the man had time to get up and jump out of the way as the train stopped abruptly.
The man who got off the tracks just in time because of Savoia’s actions says on video, "Where did you come from?" he asked while fighting back tears. "Thank you!"
Savoia, 22, was dispatched for a welfare check at the Perth Amboy station Thursday around 8 a.m. The officer says when he got the call he knew there’d be a man on the tracks, but he didn’t realized there would be an oncoming train.
Once he saw it bearing down, he knew he’d have to act fast.
"In a split-second I decided to start running," he told CBS2. "In that situation, your training takes over."
The man was reportedly homeless and taken to a hospital afterward. He later showed up to thank Savoia again
"He said I’m a true hero to him," Savoia said. "That he had a 2-year-old, that he had a family to go home to."
Savoia lost his own father, a longtime sergeant with the Perth Amboy Police Department, just two years ago.
“What I thought of was his father, how proud his father would be in heaven looking down on his son,” Perth Amboy Chief Roman McKeon said.
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