A big salute to heros like Wesley Autrey

A big salute to Wesley Autrey who rescued a teenager in New York City who had fallen off a subway platform. Not having time to pull the young man back onto the platform he dove down on top of him, pining him down as the train passed by overhead – 2 inches overhead.

He is quoted in an Associated Press article today as saying “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.”

I have been on a train that hit a passenger in the subway. I have seen the person pinned, alive, under the train. As was pointed out by New York City Transit Officials in the article, the troughs in between the rails are typically about 12 inches deep but can be as shallow as 8 inches or as deep as 24 inches. This act of heroism is one of the bravest acts I have heard of in recent times.