Wesley Autrey
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Wesley Autrey (born February 6, 1956), dubbed by the media as the Subway Samaritan, Subway
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, Hero of Harlem, and Subway Hero, is a New York City construction worker and
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veteran. In 2007, he achieved international recognition when he saved Cameron Hollopeter, a film student who suffered a
seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...
and fell onto the tracks, from being struck by a
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train. He is on the 2007 edition of
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's "
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" Most Influential People in the World list, with a tribute written by
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.


Subway incident

On January 2, 2007, Autrey was waiting for a train at the 137th Street–City College station in
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with his two young daughters. At around 12:45 p.m., he and two women noticed a young man, Cameron Hollopeter, having a
seizure A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...
. Autrey borrowed a pen and used it to keep Hollopeter's jaw open. Following the seizure, Hollopeter stumbled from the platform, falling onto the tracks. As Hollopeter lay on the tracks, Autrey saw the lights of an oncoming 1 train. As one of the women held Autrey's daughters away from the edge of the platform, he dove onto the tracks. He thought he would be able to take Hollopeter off the tracks, but he realized there was not enough time to drag Hollopeter away. Instead, he protected Hollopeter by throwing himself over Hollopeter's body in a drainage trench between the tracks, where he held him down. Though the operator of the train applied the brakes, all but two cars passed over them, close enough to leave grease on Autrey's cap.


Immediate response and honors

Autrey told ''
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'' "I don't feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right." Wesley is a member of the LIUNA union, Local 79, and credits his training with helping him make the split-second decision: "Since I do construction work with Local 79, we work in confined spaces a lot. So I looked, and my judgment was pretty right. The train did have enough room for me." Autrey went to Hollopeter's hospital room and met his family. Hollopeter's father Larry said:


Media attention

By the end of the next day, Autrey received a flood of gifts and phone calls of praise from complete strangers. He received $5,000 cash and $5,000 in scholarships for his daughters from
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, the president of the
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where Hollopeter attends school. Autrey also received $10,000 from
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. He was interviewed for several national morning news programs and was invited to be a television guest by
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,
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and
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, among others. Autrey, who had been wearing a periwinkle blue beanie with a
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Bunny logo, received a lifetime subscription to Playboy, a new beanie, and additional Playboy merchandise. He also earned the title "Hero of Harlem", and received a trip to
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. On the January 9, 2007 airing of ''
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'', he was presented with a $5,000 Gap
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, tickets and backstage passes to the next
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concert in New York, season tickets to the
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, a signed jersey from
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, a brand new Jeep Patriot, two years' of car insurance from Progressive, and a one-year free parking pass for use anywhere in NYC. His daughters were given new computers that will be updated every three years until they graduate from high school. Autrey, a
construction worker A construction worker is a person employed in the physical construction of the built environment and its infrastructure. Definitions By some definitions, construction workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers ...
, was working on converting classrooms into a library at PS 380, John Wayne Elementary School, in
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. The ''
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''' Michael Daly said that the school should be renamed after Autrey instead. On May 21, 2007, Autrey, who claimed to make $1,200 a week in his construction job, appeared as a contestant on the
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game show ''
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''. He received offers up to $305,000, but after opening the million dollars in the last round, he went home with just $25 in his Case #7. As a token for his bravery,
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donated a Jeep Patriot which was awarded to him (host
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said it would have happened regardless of how Autrey fared in the game). The second Jeep Patriot Autrey had received, it was valued at $24,710.


Bronze medallion ceremony

On January 4, 2007, New York City Mayor
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presented Autrey with the Bronze Medallion, New York City's highest award for exceptional citizenship and outstanding achievement, saying: New MTA executive director Elliott "Lee" Sander thanked him as well, saying: Sander presented Autrey with a year of free subway rides (in the form of 12 unlimited monthly
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s), plus various items of MTA merchandise for Autrey's young daughters. Also at the ceremony,
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ambassador Lowell Doringo thanked Autrey and gave him and his family a week-long all-expenses-paid trip to
Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...
, as well as tickets to see ''
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'' on
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, and gave
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ears and Mickey and Minnie
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s to his daughters.


State of the Union and CNN ceremony

On January 23, 2007, Autrey and his daughters were
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of President
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, seated in the balcony along with
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and others, at Bush's 2007 State of the Union Address to the
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. Bush said of Autrey: After Bush's remarks Autrey received a long standing ovation. Autrey proceeded to gesture outward to the crowd in thanks, shook the hands of First Lady
Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (née Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American educator who was the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009 as the wife of George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States. Bush was previously the fir ...
, Second Lady
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, and embraced fellow honored guest Sgt. Tommy Rieman in a
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. Rep.
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of Queens gave Bush credit for inviting Autrey and his daughters. Crowley commented on Bush's invitation to Autrey: In December 2007, in a
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hosted by CNN to honor heroes who have made a difference in the world, Autrey received the "Everyday Hero" award.


Aftermath

In late March 2007, Autrey sued a lawyer and his Hollywood agent, alleging they tricked him into signing a "one-sided" contract. The lawyer, Diane Kleiman, claimed that Autrey signed the contract willingly and was trying to get out of the contract because he wanted to work with someone else. According to the Associated Press, the contract between Autrey and Kleiman, which Autrey said he signed without reading, gave Kleiman exclusive rights to Autrey's name and ownership of his story, as well as 50% of Autrey's earnings. The lawsuit was settled later that year with the contract voided. In 2009, Autrey was featured in the documentary ''Starsuckers'', where he discussed his sudden fame. In 2012, shortly after the fifth anniversary of his subway heroics, Autrey was featured on a
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story in New York City, which reported he was "a sought-after speaker" who still worked in construction and was raising his 9- and 11-year-old daughters. In July 2013 Autrey endorsed
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for
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in his local New York City district. Autrey retired in 2022. He made the news again in December 2022 for winning a
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sweepstakes for a
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Wildtrak vehicle worth over $52,000.


In popular culture

*An episode of the television show ''
30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...
'' entitled " Subway Hero" features Dennis Duffy, a recurring character, as a citywide hero after emulating the actions of Wesley Autrey. *The January 2011 premiere of '' House MD'', shows a man named Jack Nash who heroically saves a woman stuck in the throes of a seizure on the subway tracks. Nash, deemed by the press "The Subway Hero," collapses afterward from injuries unrelated to the train incident. *Autrey was a contestant on the show ''
Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a ...
''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Autrey, Wesley 1956 births Living people Military personnel from New York City American builders United States Navy sailors