Hero

Wesley Autrey.

If one drowsy morning -- or evening! -- I would perchance lose my footing and fall onto the subway tracks, he is the one person I am praying to be on the platform.  2 weeks ago he bravely jumped onto the tracks of the #1 train to save the life of a young man who had suffered a seizure and fallen off the platform. By lying on top of him and having the oncoming train whiz by overhead, his bravery and quick thinking saved both their lives.  If that weren't enough, he was with his 2 young daughters whom he left on the platform as he selflessly risked his life to save someone else's - a total stranger.

Other than the news coverage that he is receiving, it might not be surprising that Mr. Autrey and his daring act will somehow slip into quiet obscurity. Like a stuffed toy you've had since you were younger now hiding away in some closest that try as you might can't get rid off, you don't really need to see it but are comforted by the fact that it is there and that alone is enough to give you a warm, fuzzy feeling.  We know in the recesses of our memory that Mr. Autrey and what he did will always be there. And when we remember it, we will get that warm fuzzy feeling.  Or, if we want to have that warm fuzzy feeling - perhaps when after a really trying day, you sit next to someone on the train that doesn't seem to undestand "talk low, so no one will know" thus, making you an IVER(InVoluntary EavesdroppeR).  You can think back on Mr. Autrey and be assuaged by the fact that good people still and do exist.  That New Yorkers are really not as rude as people think them to be (but this is a totally different discussion altogether).

Anyways, unlike the j-pop idols that i spend so much time trying to get updates about and are dying to meet, Mr. Autrey will get none of that attention.  He won't have forums and websites setup by fans in his honor...there won't be rumors in the discussion threads of a possible place to get a glimpse of him walking down the street... there may not even be a discussion thread solely dedicated to him.  It would be shocking news to me, too, if someone started selling photos of him on ebay...  and why not?  Mr. Autrey has done something that really is truly amazing.  And it is truly no less inspiring than the stories I've heard about my so-called 'idols'.  Surely, other actors/idols have done great humanitarian things...and it is easy to be enamored by the fact that these people from such high stature would come down their lofty lairs and take the time to help the poor, the elderly, the disadvantaged, the handicapped.  But are they really risking anything by doing so?  If anything, it might even help them get good exposure and they just stand to gain more. I doubt that Mr. Autrey was thinking of all the rewards he now received when he lept off that platform. And yet, he still did it.

So, this is why I have devoted this one page and this one long entry just for Mr. Wesley Autrey.  That even though he may not get his own blog community, he will have this, my little tribute.  Because, God forbid, if someone should fall from the platform that i'm standing on and i can see a train approaching, I wouldn't know what I would do.  Would I have done what he did? I would love to say, yes, and I would want to have helped, but, honestly, I really don't know.  I would never have even thought of squeezing underneath the train. Seriously.

Granted that he is a Navy veteran making him somewhat more predisposed to knowing what to do in such situations, the fact is he still did it.  He could have not jumped and saved that young man's life. He had his 2 daughters to think off... but, thankfully, he did.

Mayor Bloomberg remarked that Mr. Autrey, "makes us proud to be New Yorkers". And I am. Thanks to you, Mr. Autrey, for being a hero, our hero.  You may not have saved as much lives as Bill Gates in Africa, but all it usually takes is just one. One person to inspire a whole other group of people.  And now, maybe the LIRR can add that to their Watch the Gap campaign...that if you do fall into the gap... don't stand up. Stay down and you might be able to save your life (altough i really don't think there is enough of a gap underneath the electric and diesel trains to crawl under).  Joking aside... at least people are now aware of what they can do when they get into a similar situation.  Possibly, one day in the near future, another news story will break about some good samaritan that did the same thing Mr. Autrey did and was able to save another person from an untimely death.  The young man that Mr. Autrey saved may consider himself lucky.  But I think we should all consider ourselves lucky that Mr. Autrey did what he did.  We always find help in the most unexpected places, and because of Mr. Autrey they may be in more places now.

Thank you.