Heroism on NYC Subway Platform

[Dan T.]

Hurray for this guy, who risked his life to save a kid on the train tracks:

Rescuer pins fallen teenager, as subway passes over them
POSTED: 9:50 a.m. EST, January 3, 2007


NEW YORK (AP) -- Wesley Autrey faced a harrowing choice, as he tried to rescue a teenager who had fallen off a platform onto a subway track in front of an approaching train: Struggle to hoist him back up to the platform in time, or take a chance on finding safety under the train.

At first, he tried to pull the young man up, but he was afraid he wouldn't make it in time and they would both be killed.

Full article (includes link to interview with the guy, a Vietnam vet): http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/03/sub....ap/index.html

[rincewind]

WOW! Amazing story. Did it right in front of his two young daughters too.






Of course - if his gamble didn't work out, everybody considers him an idiot. Especially for doing right in front of his two young daughters.

[EersSkins05]

Unbelievable.

Who would even think to go under the train?

Good to see that there's still ppl like this out there.

[jb4348]

Thats awesome and great to see that there are still heros out there.

[Thiebear]

Truely amazing... I have 2 young girls...
I'd hope I had the coconuts to do that if needed... i'm not feelin it though..

[Blighty Skins]

I was in his shoes...so I know a bit about what he was talking about. Mine was different in the sense that I had to use violence to save someones life...blah blah blah...I wont repeat the story, it's on here somewhere. Amyway, the last part he says about not feeling like a hero, I can relate to that. That's true. We don't...and the simple reason is that most people who do this kind of stuff cannot live with themselves if they do nothing. We are victims of our own conscience, in a way. So in a sense we do it for selfish reasons. If he did nothing that day and if I did nothing that time I was called into action, it would be playing on our mind for years...that's just the way it is.

I refused a medal for bravery awarded to me because of that...they thought it strange, but it's just the way some people are made.

[mjah]

Thats awesome and great to see that there are still heros out there.

Yet I'd bet lots of money that this guy truly doesn't feel like a hero at all.

The emotional wake of a lifesaving experience really doesn't lend itself to a hero self-image. There are lots of feelings, very mixed. The buoying rush of self-adulation doesn't make much of an appearance.

Too bad -- because regular-Joe heroes like this subway guy really do deserve to give themselves a big pat on the back.

[Prosperity]

Maybe feeling like a hero doesn't involve self adulation? It's too bad though, maybe we would have more if it did.

[mjah]

I think you're right about heroes not having that hero self-image. Job requirement, perhaps.

[Park City Skins]

Holy......

"So I just chose to dive on top of him and pin him down," he said.
Autrey and the teen landed in the drainage trough between the rails Tuesday as a southbound No. 1 train entered the 137th Street/City College station.

The train's operator saw them on the tracks and applied the emergency brakes.

Two cars passed over the men -- with about 2 inches to spare, Autrey said.


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2 inches to spare. Man that's something. Heck of a brave thing to do. His attitude is as equally admirable as his act of bravery.




"I don't feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help," he told the Times. "I did what I felt was right."


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Wow.

[Zen-like Todd]

That station is a few stops north of me on the line I ride every day. While it was an amazing act, I couldn't imagine leaving my daughters (hypothetical, don't have children) to go leap into the path of an oncoming subway train.

[MSJHWT]

Wow, just amazing, need more people like that guy in this world.