“What Better Way To Start A New Year….”

"….than saving a life?" Those are the words of Wesley Autrey, the man who jumped onto the New York City subway tracks to save the life of Cameron Hollopeter on Tuesday, January 2, 2007. He spoke those words after Mayor Bloomberg awarded him that medal I said he deserved. Autrey also received money from Donald Trump and a number of other people as well as a fully paid vacation to Disney World for him and his family.

Autrey, whose knitted cap was brushed with grease and dirt from the train passing overhead, played down his daring act as he accepted the Bronze Medallion — for exceptional citizenship and outstanding achievement — from Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

"You see somebody in distress, you help out," Autrey told a news conference, as he was flanked by his 4- and 6-year-old daughters, who had watched their father jump onto the subway tracks. "I was just in the right place at the right time."

While Bloomberg called Autrey a "true hero" and the New York Post newspaper dubbed him the "Subway Superman," the construction worker — who went to work as normal after the incident — said the real heroes were U.S. troops in Iraq.

Along with the civic award, Autrey was also given a year's worth of free rides on New York's subway and buses, then met with real-estate mogul Donald Trump, who gave him a $10,000 check, along with two other checks from undisclosed donors.

The Walt Disney Co. gave Autrey and his family a one-week fully paid trip to the Disney World theme park in Orlando, Fla, and tickets to the Broadway smash hit musical "The Lion King."

The New York Film Academy, where Hollopeter studies, said it had given Autrey $5,000 and offered scholarships to his daughters, while The New York Daily News reported Autrey had been offered a television show apartment make-over.

And he still rejects the label of hero. He reserves that word for the troops in Iraq.

Thank you for making this world a bit brighter, Mr. Autrey. We need more people like you. (And you deserved every single reward you have received for your courageous act.)