Despite being a longtime Brookhaven, New York, firefighter for decades, on Oct. 10, 2017, Peter C. Di Pinto, Sr., found himself in situation he had never encountered. After hearing the unmistakable sounds of a car accident near their home, Di Pinto and his wife responded to offer any immediate help before on-duty officials arrived on scene. When they came up on the scene they only found one car. The other car involved had left the roadway and came to rest straddling a railroad track. As Di Pinto approached the minivan and its dazed driver, the crossing signals sounded and the gates lowered. A commuter train was approaching at 65 m.p.h. With the wreckage preventing the driver's door from opening, Di Pinto only had a few moments to react.

"I knew, basically, that we're gonna get her out or we're gonna die together," Di Pinto said.

Listen to hear Di Pinto and the minivan driver, Janice C. Esposito, retell their harrowing tale of the Rescue on the Rails.

For more about Di Pinto's rescue: https://www.carnegiehero.org/hero-search/peter-c-di-pinto/
To see the Carnegie Medal presented to Di Pinto: https://www.carnegiehero.org/cmp-di-pinto/

Fear on Hold is produced by the Carnegie Hero Fund, Big Science Pods, and Bill Garrison.

To nominate someone for the Carnegie Medal: https://www.carnegiehero.org/nominate/investigative-process/
To search the database of more than 10,000 Carnegie heroes: https://www.carnegiehero.org/heroes/search-heroes/
To learn more about the Hero Fund: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLRhEnfJ3As

Logo Design: Dave Hughes
Video Production: Untitled Content
Art Direction: Dan Minskey
Media Planning: GH Advertising
Music: Jay Green
Narration: Rebecca Senneway