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Wesley Autrey Update

The "Subway Superman" Wesley Autrey is deservedly having quite a week, following his death-defying rescue of a fellow passenger on Tuesday.  Among the hero swag that's rolled in:

• The Bronze Medal (New York City's highest civic honor)
• Appearances on David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres, and CBS's "Early Show" (video here)
• $10,000 in cash from Donald Trump
• $2,500 from the New York Film Academy for his daughters' education
• Tickets and a backstage tour for "The Lion King"
• A trip to Disney World
• A year of free subway rides
• A day off from work
• Maybe even his name on the library he's helping to build (appropriately enough, at the John Wayne School)

It's a good start.

The Times sheds a little light on the tight confines into which Autrey squoze Mr. Hollopeter and himself as the 1 Train barreled into the station.

As for heroism, Autrey is relatively muted.

"I don't think I did anything heroic. I just saved a life," Autrey said yesterday. "I don't call myself a hero because the real heroes are overseas dying for you and me."

One of Autrey's daughters, who witnessed the event, played it a touch less cool in the heat of the moment.

"Daddy jumped in the subway! He's dead!" the 6-year-old is said to have told her mother over a cell phone.

Happily not.

Previously:  Wesley Autrey, NYC Subway Hero

Also:  Save the Film Student, Save the World

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Wesley Autrey Update

The "Subway Superman" Wesley Autrey is deservedly having quite a week, following his death-defying rescue of a fellow passenger on Tuesday.  Among the hero swag that's rolled in:

• The Bronze Medal (New York City's highest civic honor)
• Appearances on David Letterman, Ellen DeGeneres, and CBS's "Early Show" (video here)
• $10,000 in cash from Donald Trump
• $2,500 from the New York Film Academy for his daughters' education
• Tickets and a backstage tour for "The Lion King"
• A trip to Disney World
• A year of free subway rides
• A day off from work
• Maybe even his name on the library he's helping to build (appropriately enough, at the John Wayne School)

It's a good start.

The Times sheds a little light on the tight confines into which Autrey squoze Mr. Hollopeter and himself as the 1 Train barreled into the station.

As for heroism, Autrey is relatively muted.

"I don't think I did anything heroic. I just saved a life," Autrey said yesterday. "I don't call myself a hero because the real heroes are overseas dying for you and me."

One of Autrey's daughters, who witnessed the event, played it a touch less cool in the heat of the moment.

"Daddy jumped in the subway! He's dead!" the 6-year-old is said to have told her mother over a cell phone.

Happily not.

Previously:  Wesley Autrey, NYC Subway Hero

Also:  Save the Film Student, Save the World