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This man saw someone fall down onto the tracks, and having a seizure, and he jumped down, as a train approached, and held the man down, as the train passed over them.
A Good Samaritan who leaped into action and saved a man who had a seizure and collapsed onto subway tracks was honored by New York city.
Wesley Autrey doesn't see himself as a national hero. "I don't want people to blow this out of proportion." he told Good Morning America.
Autrey's phone has still been ringing off the hook as complete strangers who are so inspired by the story, are offering rewards. Autrey recently received a call from Donald Trump's people, offering a $10,000 check. On Thursday, Autrey appeared at City Hall and was honored by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg presented Autrey with the Bronze Medallion, the city's highest civic award.
Autrey was also given a year's worth of free subway rides by new MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sanders. "Usually we tell our customers to stay off the tracks," Sanders said. "But in this case it's clear what Mr. Autrey did was use the right judgement. He was in the right place at the right time and did the right thing. Executives from Disney presented Autrey a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. His two daughters, four-year-old Syshe and six-year-old Shuqui, wore Mickey Mouse hats during the ceremony.
The father of three made a risky rescue earlier this week when he jumped onto a subway track to save a 19-year-old who had fallen as a train was approaching. Looking back on his decision to jump on the tracks and push the young man into a gap between the rails, Autrey said he told himself, "Wow, you did something pretty stupid."
Waiting for a downtown Manhattan train, he saw Cameron Hollopeter, suffering from some kind of medical episode. After stumbling down the platform, Hollopeter, of Littleton, Mass., fell onto the tracks with a train on its way to the station.
Autrey, traveling with his two young daughters knew he had to do something. He then jumped onto the track and rolled with the victim into a drainage trough between the rails as the southbound number one train came into the 137th street station.
The trains operator slammed on the brakes upon seeing the two on the track. Some train cars passed over Autrey and Hollopeter with only a couple of inches to spare, but neither man suffered any harm from the incident.
Even knowing that he escaped injury and possibly death, the 50-year-old construction worker from Harlem doesn't regret his choice. "I did something to save someone's life," Autrey said.
http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?se...cal&id=4905137