EXCLUSIVE: Good Samaritan, police save suicidal man from jumping off George Washington Bridge

FORT LEE, New Jersey (WABC) -- More than 200 feet above the Hudson River Wednesday morning, Port Authority officers were in a desperate race to save a life.

In video obtained exclusively by Eyewitness News, you can see a man, intent on killing himself, clinging to the outer rail of the bike path, before officers pull him to safety.

But before those cops even arrived, "This guy started climbing and got to the top and by the time I got parallel with him he climbed over and started going down the opposite side," said Jason Kesselman, a Good Samaritan.

Kesselman had been minding his business on the way to work when he saw what was happening, and wasn't about to let the man jump.

"I threw my car in park, jumped out, hopped the fence, and I start saying to the guy, 'What are you doing? Please, I'm here for you,'" Kesselman said. "It could have been 30 seconds, it could have been two minutes, but in the corner of my eye I saw two police officers running full speed."

They took over. The video shows Kesselman in the light colored shirt, and when the officers made the lifesaving grab, he helped. He lent a hand to finish the job.

"You know, I kind of looked over, pretty far drop," Kesselman said. "I think I actually hugged the guy."

Now he's in the deep embrace of his wife and daughters, who couldn't be prouder of their dad.

Port Authority police identify the victim only as a 35-year-old man from Guatemala. He wound up in the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

As for Kesselman, he's pretty self-effacing. He says he'll never know if his involvement saved the man's life, but he's glad he helped and he'd do it all over again.