Editorial: Faster than a speeding train

Sunday, Jan. 7, 2007 | 7:34 a.m.

In the split-second it took to save someone else's life, Wesley Autrey earned a hero's cape.

The tale of the 50-year-old construction worker's act in a New York City subway Tuesday morning already has reached epic proportions. But it is worth telling - and retelling - how Autrey jumped onto the tracks at the 137th Street station to save 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter, who had lost his balance after suffering a seizure and had fallen into the path of an oncoming train.

Autrey leaped from the platform and covered Hollopeter's body with his own as the train rolled to a stop just inches above them. Autrey shouted to stunned bystanders to let his daughters, ages 4 and 6, know that he was OK. Hollopeter survived and Autrey received instant hero status for an act that he says he would not hesitate to do again. "You see somebody in distress, you do the right thing. You know? You help out," Autrey told The New York Times after receiving New York City's Bronze Medallion last week.

The medal is New York City's highest award, and it is not all that Autrey received. He also has been given an all-expense-paid trip to Disney World, a year's worth of free subway rides and $10,000 from Donald Trump, the Times reports.

But such baubles and rewards are a pittance compared to what Autrey has given an entire nation: hope. In a single selfless act of bravery that saved the life of a total stranger, Autrey reminds all of us that real-life heroes still exist and walk among us.