Bystander Pulls Off Daring NY Subway Rescue

CBS ^ | 01.03.2007 | staff

[rface]

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(CBS/AP) A quick-thinking commuter saved a teenager who apparently suffered a seizure and fell onto subway tracks in Upper Manhattan, by jumping onto the tracks himself and pushing them both between the rails, beneath the oncoming train.

Cameron Hollopeter, 19, of Littleton, Mass., fell onto the tracks at Broadway’s 137th Street station Tuesday. Another subway passenger, 50-year-old Wesley Autrey of Manhattan, was standing on the platform with his two daughters whom he was taking home so he could go to his construction job.

When Autrey saw Hollopeter fall, he quickly took action and left his daughters to jump on the tracks to bring the man to safety as an oncoming train approached.

"I didn't want the man's body to get run over,” Autrey said. “Plus, I was with my daughters and I didn't want them to see that."

Autrey jumped down onto the tracks and initially tried to pull Hollopeter up to the platform but had to decide whether he could get him up in time to avoid both of them getting hit.

"I was trying to pull him up, but his weight [was too much] plus he was fighting against me — he didn't know who I was,” Autrey told CBS station WCBS-TV.

Autrey said the man was still moving violently from the seizure, so he pulled him into the center of the tracks — away from the high-voltage third rail — and laid on top of him. "The only thing that popped up in my mind was, 'OK, well, go for the gutter,'" Autrey said. "So I dove in, I pinned him down and once the first car ran over us, my thing with him was to keep him still."

The subway trough between the rails, which is used for drainage, is typically about 12 inches deep but can be as shallow as 8 or as deep as 24, a New York City Transit spokesman said.

The train's operator saw someone on the tracks and put the emergency brakes on. Two cars of the train passed over the men — with about 2 inches to spare, Autrey said — before it came to a stop.

Autrey's daughters thought the train had killed their father and the teen, but were relieved to hear their father shout up from under the train that the two were fine.

Hollopeter, a student at the New York Film Academy, was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition with only minor injuries.

Hollopeter's stepmother, Rachel Hollopeter, said Autrey was "an angel."

"He was so heroic," she said early Wednesday in a telephone interview. "If he wasn't there, this would be a whole different call."

Onlooker Patricia Brown said Autrey, a Vietnam War veteran, "needs to be recognized as a hero." Others cheered him and hugged him outside the train station.

The incident took place around 12:45 p.m. Service on the line, which runs between the southern tip of Manhattan and the Bronx, was suspended for about 45 minutes.

[Bigg Red]

I love this story. I could just read it over and over. What a courageous man.

&&&
So true. It is so heartwarming to get this kind of story as an antidote to the horrible things that people do to one another.

[Bigg Red]

A man of character, with an honest job, and two young girls, saves a man in distress by putting himself in great danger with split-second presence of mind and quick action.

Hero personified.

&&&
Plus he showed such humility when interviewed on TV. God bless him and his family.

[Zhang Fei]

you must be a math wizard, lets see I am 41, and if I were only nine years older I would be 50. Given that if I were born in 1965, which presumably I would have been, as that is my correct age, given my date of birth. Then I would have been born in 1965-9 years which would apparently have made my birth year approximately 1956. Extrapolating that out, I would have been the following ages, for years elligible during the Vietnam war. 1974 age 18, 1975 age 19. It is clear that with your comment you are a racist pesimist that does not value human life. Good day! Sometimes you just have to laugh...

American troops withdrew from the Republic of Vietnam (RVN or South Vietnam) in 1973, after the Paris Peace accords. If US forces had been in RVN in 1974 and 1975, then the government of South Vietnam would still be in existence today. (For the record, a Marine guard at the now-defunct embassy to RVN is not considered a Vietnam veteran).

[Artemis Webb]

Mr. Autrey is a courageous man. God Bless Him.

[cicero's_son]

Wow. I read the headline and was duly impressed, but the details are simply amazing.

What a hero!

[Zhang Fei]

And for the record, let me just say that the subway hero did an admirable thing. His white lie about being a Vietnam veteran does not diminish what he did - it stands out on its own. Not many people, combat veteran or not, would have done what he did.

Soldiers in combat get paid for what they do. They are trained to do what they do, almost by reflex. And yet you hear about very few who will do things like falling on a grenade to save his buddies. Those that do get nominated for Medals of Honor. What this guy did was like falling on a grenade. And the guy he saved was a complete stranger, not someone with whom he had bonded in a combat unit.

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

Are all subway lines constructed with the "hollow" beneath the passenger platform and opposite the electrified rail? It almost appears that would be the safest area in which to crouch if one somehow found themselves in the path of an oncoming subway train.

The NYC Transit Authority is totally remiss in not advising people what to do in the event they fall or are pushed to the tracks. It shouldn't have to be a "guess" that the train will pass harmlessly overhead depending on the ambiguous depth of the center channel. There should be a tried and true method...like the way one pulls their automobile to the right shoulder for a flat tire or mechanical trouble. What is the correct and safest procedure if one doesn't believe they can scramble back up onto the platform?

~ Blue Jays ~

[Blue Jays]

Hi doug from upland-

I thought you would find this graphic interesting since we were discussing how the subways are constructed on a different thread.

~ Blue Jays ~

[doug from upland]

Thanks for the info.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

He could be a "Vietnam-Era Veteran", which is legally defined as anyone who saw even one day of active duty anywhere between 1964 and May 7, 1975.

Yes, I actually heard him say "Vietnam War era" when I heard him interviewed on the radio this morning.

[shorty_harris]

This guy is my age. I volunteered for the Navy at age 17 in 1974 (my birthday is in August). I turned 18 in boot camp. I didn't go to vietnam, but nearly everyone in my squadron with more time in service than me had been there.

[paulat]

Yes, I actually heard him say "Vietnam War era" when I heard him interviewed on the radio this morning.

Should be easy enough for the MSM to prove.

All said...this man is a true hero.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

That's what I'm saying. Some people are accusing Autrey of lying about being a Vietnam War vet. He said he was a veteran of the Vietnam War era, so he may not have gone to Vietnam, either.

[Blue Jays]

Hi mphis-

We're in agreement Autrey is a phenomenal human being! I am similarly puzzled why people would seek to tear down this hero for silly reasons. It was great to see he was honored by Mayor Mike RINO Bloomberg, given a free subway pass for a year, and also acknowledged by the private sector. Disney gave him a trip to Disneyworld and Donald Trump wrote him a check for $10,000 yesterday. That should help since he has two young daughters to feed, clothe, house, and put through school.

~ Blue Jays ~

[snodog]

This guy is my age. I volunteered for the Navy at age 17 in 1974 (my birthday is in August). I turned 18 in boot camp. I didn't go to vietnam, but nearly everyone in my squadron with more time in service than me had been there.

So does he get Vietnam service by proxy.

I will go on the record, what he did was heroic, and his service to this nation should be commended, anyone that served in the United States Military has my utmost respect, but why say, "during the Vietnam era"? Does that make him a bigger hero? That is like saying I served during "Panama", or "Libya"? Which I did, I sat in my living room in Germany and watched AFRTS (Armed Forces Radio and Television Service) LIVE!

I also had to battle Rangers at Sculthorpe,UK. twice during my service, and I'll tell you, Rangers don't give up thier place at the bar easily. Thank god for green lights, a door that opens on the left of the hall, and a brisk wind blowin outside. HOOK UP!