The entire Bromfield community is still recovering from the news that 20-year-old Cameron Hollopeter, a Bromfield graduate, had a near-death encounter with a New York subway train January 2. The aspiring film student suffered a seizure that caused him to fall on the tracks in the way of an oncoming train. A Good Samaritan, 50-year-old construction worker Wesley Autrey, jumped onto the tracks when he saw the fall and protected Hollopeter’s body by risking his own, as the train passed only two feet above.

“It was weird to see someone who graduated Bromfield, from the little town of Harvard, on the 7 o’clock news,” senior Patrick Coffey said. “I didn’t know him personally, but it’s been a big deal among most of the students.”

Left to right: Katie Traver, Lily Narbonne, David Railsback and Cam Hollopeter perform in  a Bromfield production of Mandy Dear. (Courtesy photo)

Many other Bromfield students, such as senior Mary Ferrillo, who knew and acted with Cam, were especially shocked at what happened. “It’s such an amazingly incredible story to begin with, the notion of someone jumping under a train to save a complete stranger,” Ferrillo said, “but knowing Cam made it even more jaw-dropping.”

“It’s upsetting to think that someone you know goes through such a traumatic event,” said the head of the drama department at Bromfield, Michael McGarty, “but it makes you want to thank the Good Samaritan who saved him even more.”

Scott Hoffman, associate principal at Bromfield and a former social studies teacher, agrees. “I’m in amazement at the bravery of Wes Autrey, it takes quite a bit of courage and knowledge to do what he did,” Hoffman said.

Eighth-grade social studies teacher Mary-Ellen McGarty had a similar sentiment. “It was an unbelievable set of circumstantial events that just came together for him,” she said. “He was truly blessed.”

Many, students and teachers alike, remember Hollopeter’s acting career and his performances in the Cronin Auditorium.

“While at Bromfield, Cam acted in a number of productions,” Michael McGarty recalled, “including our Drama Festival entry, Detective Sketches, for which he won an excellence in acting award for the role of Goosebreath Moosejaw.”

“He was very talented,” Hoffman said. “It was impressive the way he was able to fulfill his roles and do the little nuances that acting has off center stage while staying in part.”

McGarty, who kept in touch with Hollopeter after graduation, also said that his memories of the young film student portray Cam as “an easygoing actor who thoroughly enjoyed his time on stage.”

Cam recovered at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital from minor injuries. Autrey has received more than he could ever have wished for in rewards and thank-yous.

“You’d like to think that you would jump in and do that but until you’re there you just don’t know,” Hoffman said. “Here’s a guy who walked the walk and didn’t just talk it.”