The TTC ticket collector who helped to chase and apprehend a man who allegedly pushed two teens onto subway tracks on Friday says he's not a hero, but he just acted as a parent.

Russ Cormier was working in a ticket booth when he heard people start screaming after a subway train stopped. He says crowds pointed to a man running up a flight of stairs.

The father of two says he tried to tackle the suspect as he ran up the stairs, then the two got into "a bit of a fist-a-cuff" before the suspect escaped the station.

But Cormier didn't give up.

"I took after him and I just chased him," says Cormier, who's been at the TTC for eight years. Another man also took part in the chase.

At one point, the suspect allegedly reached into his coat prompting Cormier to think he had a weapon, but that wasn't the case.

"It made me freeze, but at the same time I just kept thinking I have to do what I have to do."

Just as Cormier started to run out of steam after chasing the suspect from the subway station to Dufferin Mall, he found extra inspiration to continue the chase as the alleged pusher was about to enter a restaurant.

"I looked in and I saw little kids in the restaurant, and I thought of my kids, and it just gave me that extra little push to tackle him."

Police soon arrived on the scene and took the suspect into custody. One of the two teens was uninjured - the other has minor injuries.

Adenir DeOliveira, 47, of Toronto, appeared in court Saturday and was remanded in custody until a bail hearing Tuesday.

DeOliveira is charged with three counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault.

Despite his actions, Cormier brushed aside notions that he's a hero.

"Part of our job as TTC operators and collectors is the safety of everybody in our system," the Oshawa father says. "I just felt I had to do what had to be done at that time."

Cormier says he thinks the real hero in the situation was the teen who pulled his other friend to safety under the platform lip.

TTC vice-chair Joe Mihevc says Cormier's actions are likely to be recognized.

"On behalf of the commission, I'm sure we'll find a way to celebrate what (Cormier) did," he says.

Cormier went to visit the injured victim in hospital Monday afternoon.