Subway Rescuer: Marine Training Helped Me

Newly-released video shows the dramatic rescue of a Washington, D.C. Metro passenger. Rob Schlack, 32, suffered a seizure and fell onto the tracks in August.

Dimas Pinzon, who was waiting on the opposite subway platform, didn't hesitate when he saw Schlack fall. He jumped down and bounded over two electrified third rails to reach the man, who was in the path of an oncoming train.

On "The Early Show," Dimas and his wife, Diane Pinzon, shared their story.

Dimas said he knew the danger of the third rail because of his father.

He explained, "When I was young, my father, a third rail man in the New York City subway system, used to take me down to the tunnels and with him on the job. And he would show me, 'This is the third rail. You don't ever go near there." '

"And then, when the trains were coming, he'd pick me up and put me in one of the safety cutouts in the tunnel, and we'd watch the train go by and he'd pick me up, take me out and put me in the middle of the tracks, and we'd go on."

"Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith asked, "Who would have thought all these decades later all that training would have come into play? So, you jumped. We looked at the surveillance tape, you come (rushing) across those tracks like nobody's business. What else did you do once you got to him? You then -- then helped him up. What was the key there?"

Dimas said he just wanted to get the man off the track and prevent him from falling onto the third rail.

"My concern was ... to get him up on that platform, get him to safety," Dimas said. "So, I came up behind him and grabbed his arms and put him up and two gentlemen on the other side helped him up and I lifted him up from the legs on up."

Dimas, a retired Marine, said he really wasn't concerned about his own safety because of his years in the armed forces.

"My actions were just instinctive from the training in the Marine Corps that prepares you for situations like this."

And what did his wife think of his selfless act?

Diane said, "When he called and said, 'You won't believe what just happened.' And I was very impressed. … Because he just -- he didn't think. He just literally jumped to help the guy. And that's his character. He thinks of others first and foremost before himself. … I wasn't surprised at all."

Smith said, "Really appreciate you being in the right place at the right time and especially doing the right thing and we thank you for your service, as well."

Dimas said, "Thank you. ... I thank my father, you know, and the Marine Corps and my mother, who gave me the compassion to do those types of things."