A California Highway Patrol officer made a split-second decision that saved the life of a woman who was threatening to jump from a Pasadena overpass with her dog.
"It's now or never. I either do something or she's going to go over the side," said Officer Casey Ramstead.
Ramstead was the first on the scene after hearing the call of a woman threatening to jump from an overpass on the 210 Freeway. He arrived to see the woman sitting on the edge with her dog.
"If she just leaned forward more she would have fallen," he said. "She was just sitting there and the dog was right there on the ground next to her."
Ramstead used his training and experience to try and talk her down.
"I just kept trying to get her to calm down. I kept trying to get closer," said Ramstead. "Last ditch effort, I go, 'What about your dog?' She said, 'What about it?' I said, 'Why don't you give him some water?' At that point she leaned back and to the right."
It was the opportunity he was waiting for.
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"I jumped forward and grabbed her arm and pulled down with all my might," Ramstead said.
Thanks Ramstead, the woman and the dog survived.
"It was the most exhilarating thing I've ever experienced because I knew we were safe now."
