Image credit: Kevin Heckman/NY Daily News

A father of three young children leaped on the tracks of the New York City subway, rescuing a woman as his children looked on in disbelief.

Greg Wetzel, 40, Saturday rescued an unconscious woman who had fallen on the tracks at the 72 nd Street subway station moments before a train arrived at the platform, according to police.

A digital sign marking the minutes before the oncoming train would arrive ticked from two minutes to one as Wetzel jumped on the tracks.

"I saw a commotion and as I got closer I saw a woman unconscious laying across the tracks," Wetzel told ABC News.

"I had to make a bit of a decision. The sign said three minute, when I looked up again 'two minutes.' I had to make a decision and I quickly assessed the risks."

Wetzel said bystanders on the platform helped hoist the unidentified woman, 50, onto the platform before the train arrived.

Two women looked after his children while he was on the tracks. Seconds later, Wetzel climbed back on the platform himself.

The woman was taken to nearby Roosevelt Hospital but her condition is unknown, according to police. Wetzel said he did not see the woman fall onto the tracks, but other straphangers told him they saw her stumbling before falling onto the tracks below.

Wetzel, a lawyer for an aviation company, was taking the train with his three children; two boys ages 6 and 7, and a 4-year-old daughter.

He said he routinely teaches his children to stand back from the edge of the platform when riding the subway and never jump on the tracks.

"They're pretty well trained. I've explained to them how to conduct themselves on the platform," Wetzel said of his kids. "They knew it was a unique situation and largely stayed still and waited.

"It is important that they learned a lesson that human life is valuable. There are rules, of course, but they're circumstance-specific."