A North Carolina man is being hailed as a hero after he went above and beyond to convince a stranger not to commit suicide.

Eric Torres was driving on an overpass over Interstate 485 in Harrisburg last Friday night when he noticed two women talking to someone on the bridge.

“I just see the figure disappear,” Eric recalled.

Police officers managed to grab the man as he tried to jump.

“Two of the officers were holding the person’s wrist as he was dangling off 485,” Eric said.

Without hesitating, Eric pulled over on the rainy night and rushed to help.

“Just the thought of dropping him and seeing that, I just didn’t want to be a part of that,” Eric said.

He managed to grab the man’s waist and proceeded to give him some words of encouragement.

“Listen to me,” Eric told the man. “You’re not going to do this. I’ve been where you are at but look where I’m at now.”

Though their life or death discussion lasted just a few minutes, Eric said it felt like a lifetime.

“Me begging him not to do this, and he looked at me and said, ‘Please let me go. I can’t do this,’” Eric said.

That’s when Eric noticed the suicidal man’s shirt.

“I’m like, ‘You’re wearing a shirt that says, ‘God.’ I said, ‘You don’t think he has something to do with all of us being here for you?’” Eric recalled.

Finally, the man replied faintly with the words “I will try.”

The officers and Eric were then able to pull the man to safety. Now, Eric has a message for others in similar situations.

“As bad as you think you’re having it, there’s someone out there who is, unfortunately, suffering much more than you are, and you can either choose to stand by and do nothing or actually try to make a difference,” he said.

Find out more about this in the video below.