Tina Fineberg for The New York TimesWesley Autrey.
Check his down and dirty with subway grease cap.
The Times was smart enough to put it on the frontpage.
Posted on 01/03/2007 10:10:13 PM PST by neverdem
It was every subway rider’s nightmare, times two.
Who has ridden along New York’s 656 miles of subway lines and not wondered: “What if I fell to the tracks as a train came in? What would I do?”
And who has not thought: “What if someone else fell? Would I jump to the rescue?”
Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker and Navy veteran, faced both those questions in a flashing instant yesterday, and got his answers almost as quickly.
Mr. Autrey was waiting for the downtown local at 137th Street and Broadway in Manhattan around 12:45 p.m. He was taking his two daughters, Syshe, 4, and Shuqui, 6, home before work.
Nearby, a man collapsed, his body convulsing. Mr. Autrey and two women rushed to help, he said. The man, Cameron Hollopeter, 20, managed to get up, but then stumbled to the platform edge and fell to the tracks, between the two rails.
The headlights of the No. 1 train appeared. “I had to make a split decision,” Mr. Autrey said.
So he made one, and leapt.
Mr. Autrey lay on Mr. Hollopeter, his heart pounding, pressing him down in a space roughly a foot deep. The train’s brakes screeched, but it could not stop in time.
Five cars rolled overhead before the train stopped, the cars passing inches from his head, smudging his blue knit cap with grease. Mr. Autrey heard onlookers’ screams. “We’re O.K. down here,” he yelled, “but I’ve got two daughters up there. Let them know their father’s O.K.” He heard cries of wonder, and applause.
Power was cut, and workers got them out. Mr. Hollopeter, a student at the New York Film Academy, was taken to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. He had only bumps and bruises, said his grandfather, Jeff Friedman. The police said it...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Tina Fineberg for The New York TimesThe Times was smart enough to put it on the frontpage.
Here's a pic.
Now that is the face of a REAL hero.
A tip o' the greasy hat to Mr. Autrey. Rather impressive.
i am glad to see this on the front page, I hope this story gets around because it is a really inspiring one
Good man.
Truly!!!
Already saw it on channel 9 news in Chicago. Word is getting out. Very good man
Wow, very brave man. (Gee his children are awfully young ... considering that he is 50)
Would it be so hard to install railings? Amusement parks have them.
Bless him
"Mr. Autrey is a Great American!"
He sure is!
"Would it be so hard to install railings?"
Each subway car has multiple doors and never stop in the same place along the platform. They have installed rubber dot things for the blind at the edge of the platform.
Aw, God bless him!!
DAMN straight!
All I can say is, "Wow"! Bet that "navy veteran" had something to do with his bravery.
Dang! That was brave.
I'd like to think I'd have jumped to help, and tried to pull him out of the way, but laying on top? I doubt I'd have the guts to do that, unless I KNEW that there was at least 'two and a half people thick' clearance..... and even then????... I don't know.
Mr. Autrey, I salute you!
We need fewer railings in this country, not more.
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