I tend to agree with Andy on this.
Now that said, I have a new hero today... I caught a bit of the news earlier where it was said that this father of two, on his way home with his daughters, saved the life of a man. They said that the man rescued on the tracks had had a seizure just moments before and seemed to have recovered when fell into the path of the oncoming train.
Here is the story as printed by the Guardian:
Man Recalls Rescue on NYC Subway Tracks
Wednesday January 3, 2007 11:46 PM
AP Photo NYR102
By DEEPTI HAJELA
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - In hindsight, jumping in front of an oncoming subway train may not have been the smartest move Wesley Autrey has ever made.
``It's all hitting me now,'' Autrey said Wednesday, a day after he saved the life of a young man who had fallen down onto the tracks by pushing him into a gap between the rails. ``I'm looking, and these trains are coming in now. ... Wow, you did something pretty stupid.''
But even knowing that he had a narrow escape from injury or death, the 50-year-old Manhattanite doesn't regret his choice.
``I did something to save someone's life,'' Autrey said.
The father of three was lauded Wednesday for his quick thinking and even quicker reflexes. Waiting for a downtown train on Tuesday, he saw Cameron Hollopeter, a film student, suffering from some kind of medical problem. After stumbling down the platform, Hollopeter, of Littleton, Mass., fell onto the tracks with a train on its way into the station.
Autrey, traveling with his two young daughters, knew he had to do something. He jumped down to the tracks and rolled with the young man into the trough between the rails as a southbound No. 1 train came into the station.
The trough, used for drainage, is typically about 12 inches deep but can be as shallow as 8 or as deep as 24.
The train's operator saw someone on the tracks and put the emergency brakes on. Before the train came to a stop, two cars passed over the men - with about 2 inches to spare, Autrey said.
Hollopeter's stepmother, Rachel Hollopeter, said Autrey was ``an angel.''
``He was so heroic,'' she said in a telephone interview. ``If he wasn't there, this would be a whole different call.''
Now I wonder if this too goes to instinct? Could you do it? Would you?
My thought, yes it was instinct. He knew he could do it. It was still gutsy, and I think it speaks to the type of man he is, but still he knew he could do it. He has probably stood on that platform many times. With or without realizing it he has thought about if a person could fit under the train without being hit. Somewhere in the back of his mind he stored this information and when this happened his mind processed it and caused him to react (like what Andy was saying).
Note that in the story, and in the interview I watched on the news, he states he looks back now and thinks, "That was kind of stupid".
What do you think? Oh and just so you know, I verified that he was in fact NOT wearing a tinfoil hat at the time
