Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Brush with Death

It wasn't my brush with death, but if I ever have one in a subway station, I hope all of my neighbors (literally; he lives a floor below me) are like Wesley Autrey, the 50-year-old Manhattanite who jumped in front of an oncoming train yesterday to save a young film student's life in the subway station that is just two blocks from my very own apartment.

From cnn.com:
Wesley Autrey faced a harrowing choice, as he tried to rescue a teenager who had fallen off a platform onto a subway track in front of an approaching train: Struggle to hoist him back up to the platform in time, or take a chance on finding safety under the train.

At first, he tried to pull the young man up, but he was afraid he wouldn't make it in time and they would both be killed
... Autrey and the teen landed in the drainage trough between the rails Tuesday as a southbound No. 1 train entered the 137th Street/City College station.

The train's operator saw them on the tracks and applied the emergency brakes.

Five cars passed over the men -- with about 2 inches to spare ...
Autrey had been waiting for a train with his two young daughters. After the train stopped, he heard bystanders scream and yelled out: "We're OK down here but I've got two daughters up there. Let them know their father's OK," The New York Times reported.

Read more at nytimes.com.

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