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Hero: 'It's Time To Go,' Would-Be GWB Jumper Tells Veteran Port Authority Police Officer

"It's time to go," a suicidal man perched on the outer railing of the George Washington Bridge told Port Authority Police Officer Stephen Gryboski.

Port Authority Police Officer Stephen Gryboski

Port Authority Police Officer Stephen Gryboski

Photo Credit: PORT AUTHORITY PD

Gryboski isn't just any law enforcer, however.

The senior officer at the PAPD's George Washington Bridge Command Center, Gryboski is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of Operation Desert Storm.

He also proudly wears the badge of his father, retired Port Authority Police Officer Frank Gryboski, who served the department from 1959 through 1980. He also has a slow heartbeat.

A few years ago, a member of the public sent the department an unsolicited message calling the Passaic County resident a "class act."

"An incident happened where he could [have] lost his cool, which, if I was in his shoes, I might," the person wrote, "but he stayed cool, calm and collected" and "deserves recognition for his hard work and his kindness to the people he serves."

Gryboski's calm demeanor helped rescue the 45-year-old would-be jumper, who begged on Wednesday, Dec. 14, to let him be "a man of my word."

Gryboski was quickly joined by fellow Officers Ceaser Moreno, Jarvis Valet, Marc Hemmer, Nicholas Farfalla and Joffre Cortez, who helped secure the man and get him back over the railing to safety on the bridge's eastbound side near the New York tower.

The troubled man was taken to a nearby hospital by members of the Fort Lee Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

ALSO SEE: Rookie Port Authority K9s Honor Five Police Officers Who Died On 9/11

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