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A real hero in New York City.

January 3, 2007 — A hero construction worker left his two young daughters on a Harlem subway platform and leaped into the path of an oncoming train yesterday to rescue a stranger who had fallen on the tracks.

“Tell my little girls that Daddy is OK!” Wesley Autrey shouted from under the No. 1 train after it screeched to a halt. It was just inches above him and the film student he pushed into the trough between the tracks.

Amazingly, neither Autrey nor the man he saved, 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter, was seriously injured, even though the train grazed the construction worker’s wool cap.

“Miracles do happen, don’t they!” beamed Jeff Friedman, Hollopeter’s grandfather. “I would love to shake [Autrey’s] hand and say thanks so much.”

After Autrey boosted himself up from the tracks at the 137th Street station, he modestly said, “You’re supposed to come to people’s rescue.”

Autry is an amazing man who taught his little girls more about courage in those few moments in the subway than many parents teach their children their whole lives. The example of parents can make the difference in how children live their lives. When I’ve faced scary moments in my life I have invariably hearkened back to my parents’ example in any given situation and that has helped me to face my moments of terror.

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My Uncle Max was also an amazing role model. He was a veteran of World War ll and a documented hero. Once when he was fishing on the Arkansas River he saw a man fall in and he jumped into the water and rescued him. Then he gave him artificial respiration and went on his way. The reason why he left, he told my father, is that he was wet, it was February and he was cold.

He had made sure the man was alright and that was enough. After the article in the paper was published the chief of police in our city called Uncle Max because he was a friend and thought it sounded like something Uncle Max would have done. I don’t know if Uncle Max ever contacted the elderly couple from Atlanta or not.

Another time, Uncle Max came across a traffic accident and discovered that one of the victims wasn’t breathing. He cleared the woman’s airway and made sure she was alright. Then he started directing traffic until the police and the ambulance arrived.

One reason why Dustin Hoffman’s movie, Hero has always appealed to me is because it made me think of my Uncle Max.

He never sought the limelight, he just rescued people.

Blue Crab Boulevard has more.

The Anchoress writes, real heroes never think they’ve done something heroic.

The Right Coast thinks that Mr. Autrey’s service in the Navy may have had something to do with his courage.