MTA Police, Metro-North Fire Brigade & Commuter Save Man's Life In Grand Central

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man from Kentucky visiting New York City is thanking members of the MTA police and Metro-North Fire Brigade after they saved his life.

On Jan. 23, 70-year-old Moises Dreszer and his wife were walking through Grand Central Terminal around 4:20 p.m. when Dreszer suddenly collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.

The MTA said Assistant Station Manager and Fire Brigade member Cory Harris saw Dreszer in distress and rushed to his aid, checking his vital signs and calling Fire Command.

A Metro-North commuter who noticed the commotion, 27-year-old Frances Rush, of Putnam Valley -- a trained EMT -- immediately began CPR compressions as Harris kept his airway open, the MTA said.

"I was walking just to my train, normal day. And I just turn around and I see this gentleman lying on the ground," Rush told 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria. "...I went over to the gentleman and I could see that he was laboring breathing and had a faint pulse."

MTA Police Department Inspector Sean Montgomery, Sgt. Tajinder Singh, Officer Michael Stango, Officer Frank Meyreles, Fire EMS Officer Anthony Gaudio and Fire Brigade members Dung Hoai Dinh and Frank Martusciello also responded to the scene.

Meanwhile, MTA Police Officer Michael Burns retrieved a defibrillator, which was used to restore Dreszer's pulse after two shocks and several more CPR compressions, the MTA said.

"We were able to get him a pulse and get him back breathing on his own, which was a very relieving feeling," Rush said.

Rush told D'Auria he hopes all is well with the Dreszers and that they're in his thoughts and prayers.

"It was beautiful to see a group of complete strangers coming together to provide life saving and life altering equipment," said Harris. "I would like to thank Mr. Rush for being there, providing the compressions that he did. That with an incident like this time is definitely of the essence."

"Just to watch the teamwork of all emergency personnel was remarkable," said Montgomery. "I've never seen a network of professionalism like what transpired in that concourse that day."

The next day, officers Burns, Singh and Meyreles visited Dreszer at NYU Langone Medical Center.

Dreszer was released from the hospital on Jan. 29 and returned to his Louisville home with his wife.

"I don't remember all of the episode because I was out, but now I can think fine," Dreszer said. "Physically, I feel good - a little weak, but otherwise I'm going to manage to get better."

In a video released by the MTA on YouTube, Dreszer's wife thanked all of the emergency personnel who helped her husband.

"We're still a family," she said. "We're all still here and we just want to thank all these people."

The MTA Police Department currently has 75 defibrillators and a purchase order was recently placed to secure 70 more.