Episode 5: Harlem's Hero

The train is coming.

People on the platform hear it first.

That low metallic roar echoing through the tunnel beneath Manhattan.

Commuters shift closer to the yellow line. A father stands with his two young daughters waiting for the subway.

Then chaos.

A 19-year-old film student suddenly collapses beside him… convulsing from a seizure.

In seconds, the young man tumbles off the platform and onto the tracks below.

And now the headlights are visible in the tunnel.

But One man jumps down onto the tracks.

Transcript

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It was January 2, 2007, New York City, a Tuesday morning. Cold, gray, ordinary. Wesley Autry was standing on the 137th Street subway platform in Harlem with his two daughters. Then he heard it. A commotion. He turned around and saw a young man, 20-year-old film student Cameron Holipeter, seizing on the platform floor. Wesley moved toward him. Wesley helped him to his feet, studied him. It seemed like the worst was over. Then Cameron lost his balance and fell onto the tracks. This is the Good Samaritan. True stories of ordinary people stepping in when it matters most. I'm your host, Evelyn Page. Some screened, some looked away. Wesley Autry looked at his two daughters standing behind him. Then he looked at the tracks, and he jumped. He could see the lights of the train already coming. He could hear it. He had maybe four or five seconds to make a decision. He tried to pull him to the side of the tunnel, but Cameron was still seizing. He couldn't control his body. There wasn't enough time to drag him up and off the tracks. So Wesley did the only other thing he could think of. He pushed Cameron down flat into the drainage trench between the rails, pressed his body on top of him, held him still, held him down, and the train came. Five cars passed over them. The train stopped with Wesley and Cameron still underneath it. The clearance between the top of Wesley's head and the bottom of the train was so small that grease from the undercarriage left a mark on his blue knit cap. When the train finally stopped, Wesley called up to the platform. He said, We're okay down here, but let my daughters know their father is alright. People on the platform started screaming, crying. Some were in shock. A woman fainted. Within minutes, emergency services arrived. Wesley and Cameron were helped off the tracks. Cameron was taken to hospital. Cuts and bruises, nothing more serious than that. Wesley walked away on his own two feet. Later that evening, reporters were already calling it extraordinary. Wesley gave interview after interview, standing in the same jacket he had on when he jumped. Calm, measured, almost confused by all the attention. He kept saying the same thing in different ways. That he saw someone who needed help. That you just do what needs to be done. That he didn't think about it, he just reacted. I don't feel like I did anything spectacular, he said. I just saw someone who needed help. In the days that followed, the story spread everywhere. On January 4, 2007, New York City Mayor Bloomberg presented Autry with the bronze medallion, the highest honor a civilian can receive there. On January 23, 2007, Autry and his daughters were guests of President George W. Bush's State of the Union Address. Bush said of Autry. He insists he's not a hero. Wesley says, We got guys and girls overseas dying for us to have our freedoms. We gotta show each other some love. There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autry. Cameron's family flew in from out of town. They met Wesley. Cameron's father could barely speak, he told reporters he did not have the words. That there was no way to say thank you for something like that. Wesley was asked, again and again, what made him do it? And every time, the answer was the same. He said he just hopes that if something ever happened to him or his girls, someone nearby would do the same thing. Wesley Autry decided to jump. And because of that, a 20-year-old kid went home. Thank you for listening and supporting The Good Samaritan, where we celebrate everyday heroes. Please subscribe, share, and comment to spread their stories. The Good Samaritan is edited and produced by Michael Alcaraz. Remember to always be vigilant and look out for one another. I'm your host, Evelyn Page, and this is the Good Samaritan Podcast.