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?â€
And who has not thought: “What if someone else fell? Would I jump to the rescue?â€
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 appeared that Mr. Hollopeter had suffered a seizure.
Mr. Autrey refused medical help, because, he said, nothing was wrong. He did visit Mr. Hollopeter in the hospital before heading to his night shift. “I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,†Mr. Autrey said. “I did what I felt was right.â€
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I wish I could say that I would do the same in that situation... damn, that guy's got cajones.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
i read about this yesterday. what astounded me the most was not that he jumped onto the tracks, but that he stayed down there and let the train pass over him to protect this kid. i mean, hell.
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
vacatetheword wrote:
i read about this yesterday. what astounded me the most was not that he jumped onto the tracks, but that he stayed down there and let the train pass over him to protect this kid. i mean, hell.
Once you're down there, there's nothing else he could have done. It's like five feet up to the platform, and no room to hide underneath the platform. You either lie flat in that groove between the tracks, or you get run over.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
punkdavid wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
i read about this yesterday. what astounded me the most was not that he jumped onto the tracks, but that he stayed down there and let the train pass over him to protect this kid. i mean, hell.
Once you're down there, there's nothing else he could have done. It's like five feet up to the platform, and no room to hide underneath the platform. You either lie flat in that groove between the tracks, or you get run over.
I would have assumed that my jumping on the tracks would have unequivably resulted in my death by squashing.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Mon Oct 18, 2004 1:03 am Posts: 24177 Location: Australia
B wrote:
punkdavid wrote:
vacatetheword wrote:
i read about this yesterday. what astounded me the most was not that he jumped onto the tracks, but that he stayed down there and let the train pass over him to protect this kid. i mean, hell.
Once you're down there, there's nothing else he could have done. It's like five feet up to the platform, and no room to hide underneath the platform. You either lie flat in that groove between the tracks, or you get run over.
I would have assumed that my jumping on the tracks would have unequivably resulted in my death by squashing.
me too. when i first started reading the article, i thought he was jumping down there, then back up out of the way dragging the kid.
maybe i've seen the matrix too many times
_________________ Oh, the flowers of indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear, Like criminals, they have choked the breath of conscience and good cheer. The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
i was in the subway today and looking @ the place they were in... deary, that's balls.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 12:47 am Posts: 46000 Location: Reasonville
punkdavid wrote:
corduroy_blazer wrote:
i was in the subway today and looking @ the place they were in... deary, that's balls.
See any rats?
rough estimation: 6.
_________________ No matter how dark the storm gets overhead They say someone's watching from the calm at the edge What about us when we're down here in it? We gotta watch our backs
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