We reacted without thinking – say two friends who saved a man hanging from a 12th floor balcony in Noida

On Tuesday, a 29-second video of the two men’s heroic act was widely shared on social media platforms and showed a man wearing a cream T-shirt and black shorts hanging from the balcony wall of a high-rise building. That’s when two men – one in a red T-shirt and the other with a toothbrush in his mouth – approached the man from behind and saved him by his arms and legs.

“We reacted without hesitation,” said a 26-year-old man from Meerut who saved the life of a 21-year-old man at Noida’s Supertech Capetown Society in Sector 74 on Monday morning.

“I had just woken up and was talking to my roommates when we heard screaming from outside. At first we thought that children were playing on the badminton court. But after a few seconds, as the screams intensified, we came out of the apartment and checked the playground area,” said Adityan Tyagi, 26, a native of Meerut and working as a web developer at a multinational corporation in Noida.

“While we were checking why people were shouting, the residents signaled towards the upper floor and then we saw a man hanging from the common wall of the 12th floor balcony,” Tyagi said.

“I kept thinking and ran to the 12th floor, shouting at my friend Nitish Tondon to follow me,” Tyagi said.

Nitish Tondon, who hails from Muzaffarnagar and works in an insurance company, said, “I was brushing my teeth when we heard screams. My friend Adityan held the man by his arms and I lifted him by his leg.

“When we rescued him, he was crying a little bit and then the security guards took him out,” Tondon said.

“Come Tuesday and I was identified as the guy in the red shirt and my friend was identified as the “toothbrush man.” Since my action saved someone’s life, I feel happy and my family members are proud of me,” said Tyagi, who returned to his hometown on Tuesday to celebrate his birthday.

Tyagi lives with his four friends, including Tondon, in a 3-BHK apartment on the 10th floor of Supertech Capetown Society.

By Tuesday, a video of the event had racked up millions of views. One comment said: “Not all superheroes wear capes; some people have toothbrushes in their mouths.”

Police said the man, who tried to take his own life, lived with his family in Sector 41 in Noida. “On Monday morning, he locked his family members in the house and left it. He later reached Supertech Capetown and tried to jump from the 12th floor balcony,” said a senior police officer.

His grandfather left the locked house by jumping onto the neighbor’s terrace, and his father was also called and had already left for work.

The family began frantically searching for him, and when he was rescued, they were notified by the police.

“Earlier, the family lived in Supertech Capetown but moved to Sector 41 about five months ago. He is a BCom graduate and got a job in a finance company but did not join,” the officer said, adding that the reason behind the attempt to end his life is not yet clear .