Heroism, Special and Routine

In jumping into the path of a train to save the life of a young man who had fallen onto the tracks following a seizure, Wesley Autrey last week established himself as a genuine hero.

Trying to explain why he had risked his life to aid a stranger, Mr. Autrey said that to do otherwise would have subjected his two daughters, ages 4 and 6, to witnessing something horrible.

Yet as traumatic as it might have been for them to see the young man die, how much more difficult would it have been for the girls if their father was the one who suffered fatal injuries?

Mr. Autrey said that in the few seconds between grasping the danger and his brave leap onto the tracks, he had calculated, based on his experience as a construction worker, that there was enough space between the track bed and the bottom of the train to be safe. He joked afterward that the only damage suffered was some grease on his cap. But he also noted on the David Letterman Show that the young man had struggled with him when he tried to hold him down, placing both in danger of rising up above the safe area.

And so it wasn't quite as clear-cut a case of being able to minimize the risk as Mr. Autrey made it sound. What he did - in a situation where most of us would be too afraid to act - was truly remarkable, and that much more so because he did it in front of his children, when the consequences of being wrong might be foremost in his mind.

It reminded us of the incident nearly 30 years ago when a firefighter, about to finish his shift and go on vacation with his family, was summoned to a fire at a Waldbaum's in Sheepshead Bay. His wife and children followed him in their car and watched him climb to the roof of the supermarket, where he waved before beginning his work, only to subsequently have the roof give way, killing him and five colleagues.

Cops and firefighters in particular among emergency workers are called upon to put their lives at risk in situations where their training and skills allow them to assess the dangers and handle them more adeptly than most people. Sometimes, however, for reasons that include the unforeseen, their bravery isn't rewarded.

When the worst occurs, time stops for those closest to them, but the work goes on for their colleagues. They may take added precautions but they still will continue rushing into situations that are or can be life-threatening. It could be argued that this is what they are paid to do, but they choose this work for a reason. Implicit in that choice is a willingness to risk everything on behalf of strangers.

Mr. Autrey is being justly celebrated for stepping forward to help. His heroism reminds us to appreciate those who accept such a challenge every day as part of their jobs.