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Secaucus, New Jersey (CNN) Victor Ortiz, a 16-year-veteran with the New Jersey Transit Police, had worked the overnight shift. He was ready to clock out and start a Caribbean vacation when what started as a small incident ballooned into a terrifying and life-changing event.

"I go through the whole scenario in my mind often," said Ortiz. "People always ask me or say, 'You're crazy, would you do that again?' And I say, 'Of course, I would do it again, I mean it is my job.'"

The scenario haunting Ortiz: a split-second decision to save the life of a suicidal man clinging to the tracks, refusing to budge as an express train barreled toward them.

'I knew that this was it'

It started during rush hour late last month. A 56-year-old man had been on a New Jersey commuter train, and he and the conductor got into an argument, police said. The man, who told investigators he was on his way to New York to pick up medication for a psychological issue, became agitated when the train's conductor alerted police at the Frank R. Lautenberg Rail Station in Secaucus that an unruly passenger was on board, police said.

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