In New York City, everybody is a star. Rock stars and movie stars like New York City because they can walk down the street and blend in; because in New York City, everybody is a star. If New Yorkers see a star in the coffee shop, they ignore them. Stars have to live somewhere and many of the interesting stars keep homes in New York City. If you live in New York City, you see them. No big deal.
New York City also has its heroes. New York City has a lot of heroes. Some are more special than others.
Wesley Autrey was standing on a subway platform when a young man fell ill and tumbled onto the tracks below. Autrey jumped into the tracks to help, and then noticed a train approaching the station.
He had to think quickly.
He threw the ill stranger into the drainage trough that runs between the tracks, fell on top of him, and let the train pass over them.
They lived. Wesley Autrey saved a stranger's life.
Wesley Autrey is what makes New Yorkers great.
Wesley Autrey deserves a medal and a new home and a trip around the world and a gazillion dollars.
Here is a man who deserves all the best in life!
He's a hero!
Man who fell on NYC subway tracks saved
By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press Writer
Tue Jan 2, 10:31 PM ET
A quick-thinking commuter saved a teenager who fell on the subway tracks by pushing him down into a trough 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, of Manhattan, 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.
Autrey said he initially tried to pull the man up to the platform but had to decide whether he could get him up in time to avoid both of them getting hit.
"I just chose to dive on top of him and pin him down and pin myself down," he 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.
The subway trough, 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.
Neither man was hit by the train, police said, and Autrey, who had his two young daughters traveling with him, refused medical attention. The rescued man, whose name had not been released, was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.
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.
I wrote about another hero, Jose LeGrand. Read about him here.
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