31-year-old Gray Davis was at the 72nd Street subway station on the Upper West Side on Saturday night with his wife and mom, when without hesitation, Davis said that he jumped onto the tracks and lifted the unconscious man onto the platform, before swinging himself up using his ballet training.
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"I saw nobody else was going down there and I knew that he wasn't going to get back up, he was unconscious," said Davis. "The only action I could do was a natural action."
Watch an extended version of an interview with Davis here:
Raw: Balet dancer talks about subway rescue
At that point Davis said he went down to the tracks.
"I heard a train coming but I didn't know which direction it was coming from. Luckily it was coming from the other side but by that time I had picked him up and put him on the platform," said Davis.
NYPD officials said they arrested a 23-year-old woman in connection with the assault.
Davis was not dancing that night due to a herniated disk injury. On Monday, the American Ballet Theater recognized Davis for his efforts. Watch video of it here:
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He said was sore from the incident on the tracks but was going to receive some physical therapy.
Davis' mother posted a heartfelt message about her son on Facebook:
On Monday morning, there was an ovation for Gray by his colleagues at the American Ballet Theater for his amazing lifts off of the stage.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)