Wesley Autrey
Posted on 01/02/2007 3:57:13 PM PST by luv2ski
NEW YORK — A quick-thinking commuter saved a teenager who fell on the subway tracks by pushing him down into a furrow between the rails, allowing an approaching train to pass right over them, police said.
An 18-year-old man had some kind of medical problem Tuesday and fell onto the tracks, which are a few feet below platform level, police said. Wesley Autrey saw him fall, jumped down onto the tracks after him and rolled with him into the rut between the rails as a southbound train was coming in.- snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That's a brave man.
Wow.
Angels amongst us.
A true hero. A good quality to contemplate at the start of a New Year.
A brave man who thought quick.
Awesome.
I'm impressed... I'd like to think I could be so brave.
That took a ton of nerve.
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=65571
Samaritan Risks Life To Save Man On Subway Tracks
January 02, 2007
A Good Samaritan jumped onto the tracks at a Manhattanville subway station at 137th Street and Broadway this afternoon to save the life of a stranger who had fallen after having an apparent seizure.
The man stumbled off the platform onto the tracks, where he could have been killed if not for the heroic efforts of 50-year-old Wesley Autrey who did the unthinkable, jumping onto the tracks with a train approaching.
"He was stuck and I was like, 'Wow. Do I struggle here?' If I got him up, then I would have to go for the ground. And I didn't have that much time. So I just went for the gutter thing," said Autrey. "I just dove on top of him and held him down, cause I knew there would be enough clearance for us."
Autrey, a construction worker who lives in the neighborhood, grabbed the man and pinned him down in the gutter between the running rails while a downtown 1 train passed overhead, miraculously leaving both men without a scratch.
"I had to have the guy pinned down, because like I said, he was in a seizure," said Autrey. "He was incoherent. He was fighting, pushing and pushing against me. So I had to lock myself down, so he wouldn't push me back, and possibly my head get hit."
Autrey's two young daughters, ages four and six, who were with him at the time of the incident, watched in horror while the situation unfolded. When the train finally came to a stop, Autrey called out to them to let them know he was alive.
Autrey guessed there was maybe an inch or inch and a half clearance between his head and the underside of the train.
"Remember, the gutter maybe got like a 12-inch drop. So his body fitted in there perfectly. And I just laid on top of him, and had to pin him down," he said.
The man Autrey saved was taken to St. Luke's hospital as a precautionary measure, where he is listed in stable condition. He is expected to be recover.
When asked if he considers himself a hero, Autrey said absolutely not. He said he was just doing what he thinks anyone else would do.
"No, I don't consider myself a hero," he said. "I just went to someone's aid. Someone who was in need of help."
WoW
Hero.
A hero he is and God Bless him for saving a life but what a chance he took given that additional piece of information.
Sure is. Hat's off to Wesley Autrey.
Guy's got guts!
? How did he know this beforehand? What a brave fellow.
"Autrey guessed there was maybe an inch or inch and a half clearance between his head and the underside of the train."
WOW
"Remember, the gutter maybe got like a 12-inch drop. So his body fitted in there perfectly. And I just laid on top of him, and had to pin him down," he said.
Actually, when he explains it like that its no big deal. He had a whole 12 inches.
(Double WOW!)
He may not think he is a hero but any right thinking person would say he is a HERO.
I remember a story like this when Reagan was president. a man on his way to a job interview saved a person on the subway tracks. President Reagan heard the story and called the factory where the interview took place. The hero got the job. I sure miss President Reagan!
I used to live in NYC and loved the subway, but I always had a healthy respect for it and stood well back from the edge of the platform when a train was coming into the station.
Being run over, mangled is bad enough, but it was the third rail that scarred the bejeezus out of me.
I actually saw a drunk one night, jump down on the tracks, step over two 3rd rails and walk across another set of tracks and climb up on the other platform. Somebody was watching over him that night. I actually turned away expecting to hear a loud zzzzzapp!
Twas a brave man that Wesley Autrey that jumped down on the tracks and save that young man. He must be kin to Gene.
Wow, tears in my eyes. What a story.
My G_d. I also just noticed that on the link. Why would he take such a chance with this two daughters looking right at him?
Incredible video news story and interview with the Autrey at the link. Apparently he's a Navy veteran. What a brave person.
http://www.wnbc.com/index.html
WOW. What a hero.
Those little girls should be very proud of their old man.
Why? Because he had to.
I am not at all surprised to hear that he is former military. I think our military and firefighters particularly are full of the type of person whose heroism just comes naturally.
The key line to me was this
"Autrey guessed there was maybe an inch or inch and a half clearance between his head and the underside of the train. "
One inch clearance? That's incredible. He is indeed lucky to be alive.
Wow. Incredible bravery!
***Angels amongst us.***
well put.
Doesn't appear that he took much time to think about it. That's part of why it's heroic. He saw a desperate situation and acted. He did the right thing.
"The man stumbled off the platform onto the tracks, where he could have been killed if not for the heroic efforts of 50-year-old Wesley Autrey who did the unthinkable, jumping onto the tracks with a train approaching."
He risked his own life to save another -- doing what had to be done. That's the definition of a hero.
He doesn't consider himself a hero? He is the definition of a hero.
Now that's what I call a guardian angel!
Sorry, I didn't see your response when I made the same comment.
Why would he take the chance? Because he sounds like the kind of person who thought he could do something to save someone's life and could not live with himself by letting a fellow human die. Perhaps that is it.
I can't speak for him but sometimes you instinctively take action just knowing it is the right thing to do. It could have ended differently, but it didn't.
OMG, and with the other guy fighting and trying to lift up to get Autrey off him... There's NO WAY ON EARTH I would've had the guts to do what he did. Unbelievable. Guy definitely deserves a WHOLE BUNCH of medals!
Wesley Autrey is my hero. Brave and smart.
Hero Bump!!!
This is the kind of thing that deserves a book or movie of the week. A ordinary citizen doing the extraordinary when the time came.
Cameron Hollowpeter is the kid's name. He ought to change it.
Why would he take such a chance with this two daughters looking right at him?\
&&&&
My experience of construction workers is that they live with potentially dangerous situations regularly in their work. They are used to thinking and acting extremely quickly and decisively. I bet he had already considered that other subway riders would watch over his girls.
True heros never consider themselves to be heros. Ironic, isn't it?
BTW, this man most definitely is a HERO.
This gentleman is a hero. So did the trains actually pass over them?
Quick indeed. It sounds like one second he was just standing by the tracks, and by the next second he had conceived and was implementing a very risky but basically sound plan to save the 18 year old.
Where did he learn to think and move that quickly and decisively? Sports? The military?
Amen to that. Extraordinary bravery. Above and beyond. Almost Medal of Honor level bravery, imo. It's what always has defined a "hero" to me: Someone who knows the risk, knows it could go wrong, and yet does it anyway. I would've frozen in my tracks.
Onlooker Patricia Brown said Autrey, a Vietnam War veteran, "needs to be recognized as a hero."
Again...
"He was stuck and I was like, 'Wow. Do I struggle here?' If I got him up, then I would have to go for the ground. And I didn't have that much time. So I just went for the gutter thing," said Autrey.
His first concern was for other guy.
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