Travis Simms, a city corrections officer, was the man FDNY Firefighter Steven Pollard was rescuing before he fell to his death Sunday, and now Simms is speaking out.
Simms was trapped in his SUV after a rollover on the Belt Parkway in Brooklyn, and Pollard and his fellow firefighters responded to the scene of the crash.
"He risked his life in order to save mine," Simms said.
As the rescuers jumped the center median to come to his aid, 30-year-old Pollard lost his footing, slipped through the void in the bridge and tumbled to his death. He had just emerged from probation after a year on the job and at the Canarsie firehouse, colleagues remembered a man destined for greatness.
"He was a good firefighter," said Captain Jimmy Quinn of FDNY Ladder 170. "He was on his way to being a great firefighter. He was gonna be an anchor in the firehouse."