HERO
OF HARLEM

Topics: Courage; Evangelism; Good Deeds; Great Commission; Heroes; Imitation of Christ; Love; Ministry; Redemption; Rescue; Rewards; Sacrifice; Salvation; Witnessing

References: Matthew 28:18–20; John 15:13; Romans 7:24–25; 10:14–15; Colossians 1:13–14; James 5:19–20; 1 Peter 3:15; 1 John 3:16–18

Cameron Hollopeter, nineteen, suffered a seizure while waiting for a train in a New York City subway station. As his body convulsed out of control, the young man stumbled down the platform and onto one of the tracks, directly into the path of an inbound train.

Wesley Autrey, fifty, a construction worker who was standing on the platform with his two daughters, saw Hollopeter fall. He jumped onto the tracks and grabbed hold of Hollopeter. With only seconds to spare, he rolled with the younger man into a drainage trough between two tracks. An instant later, the train cars thundered over both of them. Amazingly, neither man was injured.

In the ensuing days, Autrey was rewarded handsomely for his bravery. Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented him with the city’s highest award for civic achievement, calling him “a man who makes us all proud to be New Yorkers.” He was given $10,000 from Donald Trump, a trip to Disney World, and a year’s supply of MetroCards from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. His boss even bought him a “hero” sandwich.

Autrey is modest about his new status as the hero of Harlem. “I just did it because I saw someone in distress,” he told reporters. “Someone needed help.”

—Verena Dobnik, Associated Press, “NYC Subway Savior Showered with Gifts” (January 4, 2007)