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Downloaded from
YTS.BZ
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For 17 years,
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.BZ
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I've been keeping
this story to myself.
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What was it like to be
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00:00:19,411 --> 00:00:22,957
one floor below where a plane
flew into your building?
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00:00:24,209 --> 00:00:26,585
I've never talked
directly about it.
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I was one of the few people
that actually saw this
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00:00:37,180 --> 00:00:39,473
thing coming at the building.
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00:00:42,643 --> 00:00:43,644
It hits you.
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I looked out my window.
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You can see a huge fireball.
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And I knew the people that
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I had just talked to were all dead.
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We started the day as colleagues,
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ended the day as lifelong
brothers and sisters.
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00:01:02,121 --> 00:01:05,124
We succeed as a group,
or we go down as a group.
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Whether you went up
or whether you went down,
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00:01:07,961 --> 00:01:09,963
whether you went left
or whether you went right,
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00:01:09,963 --> 00:01:11,965
decided whether you were going
to live or die that day.
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Everything, every decision
that was made,
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it could've played out
so differently.
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It makes me realize just how close
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to that line between
who lived and died we were.
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The morning of September 11th
I actually arrived at the office
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00:01:49,626 --> 00:01:51,712
a little earlier than
I normally do.
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You know, it's time
to get up and go, you know?
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And I enjoyed…
I enjoyed that.
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Normally I'd wear a suit.
30
00:02:01,306 --> 00:02:03,599
That day I was wearing
just a short-sleeved shirt.
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00:02:03,640 --> 00:02:05,852
This one. Same shirt.
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00:02:07,270 --> 00:02:09,188
I drive into work every day.
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00:02:09,272 --> 00:02:11,024
Coming in, from no matter where,
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I could see the Twin Towers.
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I felt privileged to be
working in these buildings,
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00:02:14,986 --> 00:02:16,612
because I felt like,
you know, we were
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on top of the world, literally.
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I worked in the North Tower,
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00:02:21,617 --> 00:02:23,494
and everybody recognized it
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by the spire on top, the antenna.
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00:02:26,580 --> 00:02:29,125
Tower two,
which was the South Tower,
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00:02:29,167 --> 00:02:31,377
is where we worked at, and I…
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00:02:31,461 --> 00:02:34,047
Of course, Tower Two was better,
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00:02:34,047 --> 00:02:35,797
because we were there.
You know?
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00:02:44,223 --> 00:02:46,059
The morning of September 11th,
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00:02:46,059 --> 00:02:48,227
I walked across the plaza.
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00:02:48,227 --> 00:02:50,687
To be able to see
the top of the building,
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00:02:50,729 --> 00:02:52,982
you'd have to absolutely
crane your neck up,
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00:02:53,024 --> 00:02:55,234
completely up to stare at the sky.
50
00:02:56,735 --> 00:03:00,073
I'd never been in a building
that… that tall before.
51
00:03:00,572 --> 00:03:03,617
No. There certainly aren't
any in North Carolina.
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00:03:07,746 --> 00:03:11,583
You enter an elevator
that held maybe 50 people.
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00:03:11,667 --> 00:03:15,754
And it shot you up 78 floors
in 45 seconds.
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00:03:15,837 --> 00:03:17,924
Feel your ears popping,
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00:03:18,007 --> 00:03:19,716
and you could feel the motions.
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I never got used
to travelling unnaturally fast
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00:03:24,430 --> 00:03:27,183
in an enormous steel box.
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Good morning,
American Eleven with you,
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00:03:32,939 --> 00:03:35,108
passing through 190 to 230.
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00:03:35,149 --> 00:03:37,110
American eleven,
Boston Center. Roger,
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00:03:37,151 --> 00:03:38,861
climb level two-eight-zero.
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00:03:43,116 --> 00:03:46,743
Network Plus was this small little
telecommunications company.
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Our office was on the 81st floor,
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and it was never hard
to recruit anybody,
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or hire anyone, cos everybody
wanted to be there.
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00:03:56,129 --> 00:03:58,047
You know, it was my first office,
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00:03:58,089 --> 00:04:00,883
my first job as a business person.
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00:04:01,633 --> 00:04:03,302
Everything was unique to me.
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00:04:04,262 --> 00:04:06,472
The majority of
the people that worked there
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00:04:06,472 --> 00:04:08,640
were in their early 20s,
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00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:10,642
were out to have a good time.
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I mean, we worked
for a telecom company,
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00:04:13,146 --> 00:04:15,772
we weren't bankers.
We weren't hedge fund guys.
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00:04:15,814 --> 00:04:17,275
We were not all millionaires.
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00:04:17,316 --> 00:04:19,651
We were struggling kids,
most of us.
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00:04:21,653 --> 00:04:23,281
When I started work there,
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00:04:23,322 --> 00:04:26,492
there was no other tenant
on the rest of the floor.
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00:04:26,492 --> 00:04:28,827
So we had a quarter of the floor.
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00:04:28,911 --> 00:04:32,165
The rest of the three quarters
of the floor was, was open.
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00:04:33,790 --> 00:04:36,502
We used to go
into the unoccupied part
of the office
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00:04:36,586 --> 00:04:39,422
to sneak cigarettes
when we were on our break.
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00:04:41,132 --> 00:04:42,674
Yeah, when Bank of America
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00:04:42,674 --> 00:04:44,676
moved onto our floor,
you know, that was our floor.
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00:04:44,760 --> 00:04:47,138
So they were coming in
to our, our floor.
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00:04:51,683 --> 00:04:53,352
We were new kids on the block.
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00:04:53,436 --> 00:04:56,189
We had just moved there
in June of that year.
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It was our new office space.
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Coming into
this building, it was massive.
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00:05:00,193 --> 00:05:02,195
From one end of this floor
to the other end of this floor.
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00:05:02,195 --> 00:05:04,363
The size of a football field.
I loved it,
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00:05:04,363 --> 00:05:06,074
I can't say it enough,
I loved it.
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00:05:08,451 --> 00:05:10,036
The windows on every floor
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00:05:10,119 --> 00:05:11,537
were 18 inches wide.
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00:05:11,621 --> 00:05:13,830
They ran from floor
to ceiling though.
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00:05:13,873 --> 00:05:15,791
If you are looking down from
where I was. You look down,
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00:05:15,832 --> 00:05:18,336
you get the feeling almost
that you're gonna fall out.
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00:05:18,878 --> 00:05:20,505
You put your head
against the window,
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00:05:21,214 --> 00:05:24,342
you get that that rollercoaster
effect in your stomach.
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00:05:24,383 --> 00:05:26,260
You look down, like, "Wow."
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00:05:30,056 --> 00:05:31,307
I didn't have a problem
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00:05:31,349 --> 00:05:33,643
with Anne working
at the World Trade Center.
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00:05:33,684 --> 00:05:35,186
I mean, a lot of people
worked in each tower.
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00:05:35,228 --> 00:05:37,771
It was, you know, a lot of offices.
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00:05:37,855 --> 00:05:40,233
Oh, Anne was a dear.
Lovely woman.
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00:05:40,316 --> 00:05:43,903
She was kind, sweet, always
had nice things to say.
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00:05:43,903 --> 00:05:47,240
She had jumped from one
job to work for the bank.
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00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,326
I kinda said, "Hey, that sounds
like a really good position."
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00:05:50,368 --> 00:05:52,245
So… She did.
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00:05:52,245 --> 00:05:54,413
You know, I had…
I had no clue.
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I just didn't want to believe
anything could happen.
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00:06:02,255 --> 00:06:04,257
Is that American 11 trying to call?
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00:06:05,716 --> 00:06:07,343
We have some planes.
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00:06:07,385 --> 00:06:09,845
Just stay quiet and you'll be okay.
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00:06:15,268 --> 00:06:17,520
Baseline just moved
to the South Tower.
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00:06:17,562 --> 00:06:22,108
We took up floor 77
and a partial of 78.
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On the morning of September 11th,
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I get off at the 78th floor
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00:06:27,446 --> 00:06:29,823
and then take the escalator
just down one floor.
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00:06:29,907 --> 00:06:32,118
An internal escalator to my office.
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00:06:32,784 --> 00:06:36,289
I put my jacket down,
I put my laptop,
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00:06:36,289 --> 00:06:40,001
and my docking station
and get all set.
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00:06:41,919 --> 00:06:43,296
Baseline was a company on the up.
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00:06:44,297 --> 00:06:47,758
We provided software and data
to investment banks.
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00:06:48,551 --> 00:06:50,428
Everybody got along at Baseline.
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00:06:50,469 --> 00:06:52,597
It was a very close-knit company.
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00:06:53,931 --> 00:06:55,683
Even while being pregnant,
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00:06:55,766 --> 00:06:58,644
I was still excited to come
to the office every single day.
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00:06:58,728 --> 00:07:01,439
Just to be able to work
that high up.
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00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:02,940
Was like "Wow."
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00:07:03,983 --> 00:07:06,818
Steven was an accountant
at Baseline.
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00:07:06,818 --> 00:07:09,071
And he was so happy with his job,
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00:07:09,113 --> 00:07:11,115
he loved working there.
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00:07:11,823 --> 00:07:14,493
This was a place that
he felt that he would stay
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00:07:14,577 --> 00:07:15,703
for a long time.
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00:07:19,957 --> 00:07:21,292
That morning, at about,
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00:07:21,334 --> 00:07:23,252
approximately about 08:30
in the morning,
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00:07:23,294 --> 00:07:24,836
there might have been
around 100 people
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00:07:24,921 --> 00:07:26,172
already on the floor.
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00:07:28,758 --> 00:07:31,177
I really had just sat down,
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00:07:31,219 --> 00:07:32,678
got my computer on,
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00:07:33,512 --> 00:07:36,015
looked at emails
really quick to see
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00:07:36,098 --> 00:07:39,185
how many hundreds of emails
came in overnight.
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00:07:39,268 --> 00:07:40,603
It was just another day.
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00:07:45,274 --> 00:07:47,860
We got a heads up for you,
I've got an American 11
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00:07:47,944 --> 00:07:49,737
headed southeast right now.
But we're not talking to them,
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00:07:49,820 --> 00:07:51,781
no one's talking to them for
the last 20 minutes.
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00:07:58,704 --> 00:08:00,706
I dropped my food
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00:08:00,706 --> 00:08:02,333
and my workbag at my desk
149
00:08:02,375 --> 00:08:04,210
and I headed off to the bathroom
150
00:08:04,210 --> 00:08:05,670
to get dressed.
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00:08:10,424 --> 00:08:11,926
Neil comes by,
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00:08:12,718 --> 00:08:14,178
says you wanna go down
for a cigarette?
153
00:08:15,471 --> 00:08:17,348
I just wanted
to grab my friend and…
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00:08:17,390 --> 00:08:18,849
Have a smoke break before
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00:08:18,891 --> 00:08:20,434
I was going out on sales calls.
156
00:08:30,152 --> 00:08:31,821
So I'm standing with
Peter at the elevators,
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00:08:31,863 --> 00:08:33,072
hit the down button.
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00:08:37,410 --> 00:08:38,828
That morning we had a team
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00:08:38,870 --> 00:08:41,163
up from Bank of America's
corporate office.
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00:08:41,205 --> 00:08:42,999
And it was nice to show
the new space off.
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00:08:43,749 --> 00:08:44,834
I'm on the phone,
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00:08:44,876 --> 00:08:46,168
I've got my feet on the windowsill,
163
00:08:46,210 --> 00:08:48,587
I'm looking Uptown
at Empire State Building,
164
00:08:49,714 --> 00:08:52,425
and you see this plane
coming at you.
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00:08:53,092 --> 00:08:55,052
Being a little hungover, you…
166
00:08:55,094 --> 00:08:57,096
You look at it
and you say, "Alright,
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00:08:57,096 --> 00:08:59,432
"there's a plane coming."
You don't think twice about it,
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00:08:59,432 --> 00:09:00,641
you just go about your business.
169
00:09:02,226 --> 00:09:04,270
I heard a sound which sounded like
170
00:09:04,270 --> 00:09:06,898
a plane engine.
Throttling down almost.
171
00:09:06,939 --> 00:09:09,400
It sounds like
it's a freight train.
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00:09:12,611 --> 00:09:14,739
And I remember,
hanging up the phone
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00:09:15,072 --> 00:09:16,657
and turning around.
174
00:09:19,618 --> 00:09:20,786
It hits you.
175
00:09:22,288 --> 00:09:24,457
An enormous explosion.
176
00:09:24,540 --> 00:09:26,792
The loudest noise
I've ever heard.
177
00:09:28,127 --> 00:09:31,130
The whole room jolted.
178
00:09:32,798 --> 00:09:36,302
In an instant, there was terror.
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00:09:37,762 --> 00:09:40,222
Time was in slow-motion.
180
00:09:41,307 --> 00:09:43,976
The wall tiles seemed
to pop off the walls.
181
00:09:46,228 --> 00:09:48,481
I remember
the water pipe splitting.
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00:09:50,149 --> 00:09:51,902
The building felt like it moved.
183
00:09:51,943 --> 00:09:53,152
Sideways.
184
00:09:55,488 --> 00:09:58,616
It had gone too far over.
185
00:09:59,408 --> 00:10:02,828
And I remember seeing the water
from where I was.
186
00:10:03,079 --> 00:10:04,789
And normally, you didn't see it.
187
00:10:05,331 --> 00:10:07,750
Something was wrong.
Like, something was very wrong.
188
00:10:08,834 --> 00:10:10,669
I looked out my window.
189
00:10:11,003 --> 00:10:12,671
I saw a huge fireball.
190
00:10:16,175 --> 00:10:18,344
Flames and debris
191
00:10:18,344 --> 00:10:19,470
shooting out from above.
192
00:10:21,180 --> 00:10:22,640
People just stopped.
193
00:10:22,681 --> 00:10:24,475
It was almost like time stopped.
194
00:10:28,437 --> 00:10:30,147
Is the building going to fall down?
195
00:10:30,189 --> 00:10:32,525
You can't even, in your mind,
196
00:10:32,525 --> 00:10:34,652
you can't even fathom that.
197
00:10:38,572 --> 00:10:41,367
Neil and I
were stuck in this elevator.
198
00:10:41,700 --> 00:10:43,327
Everything kind of froze.
199
00:10:44,453 --> 00:10:45,663
In my mind.
200
00:10:47,206 --> 00:10:49,375
Everything was just
much more heightened.
201
00:10:49,458 --> 00:10:51,669
Things looked crisper,
202
00:10:51,710 --> 00:10:54,630
sounds sounded clearer.
203
00:10:57,216 --> 00:10:59,427
I heard whooshing sounds.
204
00:11:00,386 --> 00:11:02,388
Sounds like it's coming
from everywhere.
205
00:11:04,140 --> 00:11:06,392
And as we're prying open the
doors, I look across
206
00:11:07,184 --> 00:11:09,603
at the elevator bank
in front of us and
207
00:11:10,897 --> 00:11:14,025
one of the most vivid pictures
I have of that day,
208
00:11:14,066 --> 00:11:18,320
is this waterfall of fire
falling down.
209
00:11:20,866 --> 00:11:22,408
It was raining fire,
210
00:11:22,408 --> 00:11:25,411
inside of the elevator bank
opposite to us.
211
00:11:30,249 --> 00:11:32,585
There's fire, then you notice that
212
00:11:33,044 --> 00:11:36,088
some of that fire is behaving
in a very different way.
213
00:11:38,382 --> 00:11:41,760
Fire should not fall down.
It goes up.
214
00:11:43,762 --> 00:11:46,098
Something against nature
was happening.
215
00:11:46,098 --> 00:11:47,725
No idea what that was.
216
00:11:47,766 --> 00:11:52,271
In retrospect, I have
to assume it was jet fuel.
217
00:11:53,772 --> 00:11:57,693
The only thing was get out
of this situation right now.
218
00:12:14,251 --> 00:12:15,294
We're trapped in an elevator
219
00:12:15,336 --> 00:12:17,296
and I can see fire and debris.
220
00:12:17,296 --> 00:12:19,131
Yeah, I mean, I thought
for a split-second,
221
00:12:19,131 --> 00:12:21,759
"That's it, I was dead,
it was over, I was gone."
222
00:12:24,303 --> 00:12:26,472
Neil and some other gentleman
223
00:12:26,555 --> 00:12:28,058
opened up the doors.
224
00:12:28,099 --> 00:12:31,644
And then, the next second,
it was flight.
225
00:12:31,685 --> 00:12:33,939
I yelled, "Stairs! Follow me!"
226
00:12:34,981 --> 00:12:37,316
Turned right,
and just started running.
227
00:12:58,337 --> 00:13:01,549
There was a lot going on.
Grown men on their knees,
228
00:13:01,632 --> 00:13:04,677
people praying, people
under their desks screaming.
229
00:13:05,511 --> 00:13:08,764
Just as a 23-year-old kid,
you don't see things like this,
230
00:13:08,806 --> 00:13:10,976
nobody has any idea
of what's going on.
231
00:13:11,017 --> 00:13:12,476
I started yelling at everybody
to calm down
232
00:13:12,518 --> 00:13:15,563
and I got up and I immediately
ran out into the hallway.
233
00:13:17,189 --> 00:13:19,191
I saw destruction.
234
00:13:20,693 --> 00:13:22,570
Ceiling tiles down
235
00:13:22,653 --> 00:13:24,572
and debris in the middle
of the hallway.
236
00:13:26,532 --> 00:13:29,410
As I walked through
the elevator banks,
237
00:13:29,493 --> 00:13:30,619
I see flames.
238
00:13:33,289 --> 00:13:34,748
But the stairwell was clear.
239
00:13:35,416 --> 00:13:37,543
So I run back into the office
And I was like,
240
00:13:37,543 --> 00:13:39,712
"Alright, the stairwell is clear,
241
00:13:39,753 --> 00:13:41,589
"everybody go to the stairwell."
242
00:13:44,341 --> 00:13:45,801
As we opened
the door to the hallway,
243
00:13:45,843 --> 00:13:48,220
I remember the smell
of what I know now
244
00:13:48,262 --> 00:13:51,891
as jet fuel. And I'll never
forget that smell.
245
00:13:53,225 --> 00:13:55,854
At that point, I still had
no idea it was a plane.
246
00:13:58,397 --> 00:14:00,566
I was still in confusion.
247
00:14:00,566 --> 00:14:02,568
I looked out of the window
248
00:14:02,651 --> 00:14:04,988
to try to get a sense
of what was happening.
249
00:14:06,197 --> 00:14:09,909
I could see debris, dust, papers
250
00:14:09,993 --> 00:14:11,702
falling from above.
251
00:14:13,038 --> 00:14:16,457
And then, what caught
my eye was a shoe.
252
00:14:18,334 --> 00:14:19,543
A woman's shoe.
253
00:14:20,419 --> 00:14:22,379
Red, high-heeled…
254
00:14:26,717 --> 00:14:29,678
I don't know, uh, gosh…
255
00:14:33,933 --> 00:14:35,894
You know, seeing that…
256
00:14:35,935 --> 00:14:37,770
It wasn't a body,
257
00:14:37,770 --> 00:14:40,272
but it was this clarity that
258
00:14:40,356 --> 00:14:42,775
a human being was now
259
00:14:43,525 --> 00:14:45,402
affected by what was happening.
260
00:14:49,115 --> 00:14:52,409
That image, and that thought,
and piecing that together
261
00:14:52,451 --> 00:14:54,162
is chilling.
262
00:14:58,875 --> 00:15:01,086
United 175, New York.
263
00:15:05,422 --> 00:15:07,841
United 175, do you read New York?
264
00:15:10,095 --> 00:15:13,389
United? United 175,
do you read New York?
265
00:15:22,648 --> 00:15:25,110
You knew the bang
didn't come from our building,
266
00:15:25,151 --> 00:15:30,614
but whatever it was,
it was bad enough that
267
00:15:30,656 --> 00:15:31,991
it shook the building.
268
00:15:31,991 --> 00:15:36,412
And then, you got this
really fast pervasive smell
269
00:15:36,453 --> 00:15:38,831
of something that came
flying through the office,
270
00:15:38,831 --> 00:15:40,708
through, like,
the whole ventilation system.
271
00:15:42,961 --> 00:15:45,421
And I'm like,
"What's going on, guys?"
272
00:15:45,462 --> 00:15:47,006
You know, and I come out the office
273
00:15:47,090 --> 00:15:51,261
and I see out the window
all these papers flying,
274
00:15:51,302 --> 00:15:53,972
and they look like they're on,
some of them are on fire.
275
00:15:56,515 --> 00:15:58,684
I look up and I see the North Tower
276
00:15:58,767 --> 00:16:00,937
and I see black smoke.
277
00:16:11,697 --> 00:16:13,241
It looked like,
278
00:16:14,033 --> 00:16:15,910
like you'd used a rusty can opener
279
00:16:15,994 --> 00:16:17,287
to try to open up a can.
280
00:16:22,791 --> 00:16:25,544
I thought that a small plane,
like a little Cessna
281
00:16:25,627 --> 00:16:27,463
must have hit the building.
282
00:16:27,504 --> 00:16:29,506
I didn't realise that
what I was looking at
283
00:16:29,548 --> 00:16:31,217
was the exit side.
284
00:16:31,301 --> 00:16:32,886
I couldn't believe
what I was seeing,
285
00:16:32,886 --> 00:16:35,889
I'm like what's going on
in that building?
286
00:16:44,730 --> 00:16:46,065
I thought to myself,
287
00:16:46,648 --> 00:16:49,194
this is definitely going
to go out on the news.
288
00:16:49,235 --> 00:16:50,862
Something happening
to the Trade Center
289
00:16:50,904 --> 00:16:52,529
is going to go out on the news.
290
00:16:52,906 --> 00:16:55,241
And I yelled out to everybody
that worked for me, I says,
291
00:16:55,325 --> 00:16:57,118
"Call your home, call your people,
292
00:16:57,202 --> 00:16:58,744
"and just tell them you're okay."
293
00:16:58,744 --> 00:17:00,746
Make it a quick phone call,
cos you gotta get out of here.
294
00:17:06,252 --> 00:17:07,962
Anne called me
295
00:17:08,046 --> 00:17:10,589
and I'm like,
"What's the matter?"
296
00:17:10,672 --> 00:17:12,508
She goes, "A plane
hit the building,
297
00:17:12,549 --> 00:17:14,928
"I don't know what's going on,
I'll call you when I get out."
298
00:17:15,011 --> 00:17:16,762
I was like, "You gotta be
kidding me,
299
00:17:16,845 --> 00:17:18,097
"how could a plane
hit the building,
300
00:17:18,139 --> 00:17:19,349
"you can't miss those things."
301
00:17:19,390 --> 00:17:20,934
She didn't sound panicked,
302
00:17:21,017 --> 00:17:23,560
but she just sounded like,
"I want to get outta here."
303
00:17:25,437 --> 00:17:26,688
Well, my mind started going,
304
00:17:26,730 --> 00:17:28,440
"I gotta see what's going on."
305
00:17:28,524 --> 00:17:30,193
We have a breaking news story
306
00:17:30,235 --> 00:17:33,238
to tell you that apparently a plane
has just crashed…"
307
00:17:33,279 --> 00:17:35,365
And I'm looking at that
and I'm saying,
"That is a big hole
308
00:17:35,406 --> 00:17:37,116
"and that is a lot of smoke."
309
00:17:37,867 --> 00:17:40,119
"That is not a little plane."
310
00:17:40,912 --> 00:17:42,956
And that made me feel
a little worried.
311
00:17:47,961 --> 00:17:49,963
I walk over to my desk and
I look up and you just see,
312
00:17:50,046 --> 00:17:52,631
like a waterfall over the window.
313
00:17:53,299 --> 00:17:56,760
I saw this liquid just rolling down
the window,
314
00:17:57,136 --> 00:17:58,346
not knowing what it was.
315
00:17:59,931 --> 00:18:02,058
I knew right away
that it was jet fuel.
316
00:18:03,517 --> 00:18:04,601
Holy.
317
00:18:06,145 --> 00:18:09,065
What I feared more, was that it was
going to ignite.
318
00:18:11,483 --> 00:18:12,818
All right, people, let's go.
319
00:18:12,818 --> 00:18:14,404
And I may have yelled a little bit.
320
00:18:14,445 --> 00:18:16,406
"Let's go, pick it up.
Let's go, go get your stuff."
321
00:18:17,614 --> 00:18:20,410
I was with
Anne Koster as we,
322
00:18:20,659 --> 00:18:22,744
you know, proceeded
towards the exit.
323
00:18:25,831 --> 00:18:29,002
I turned around, and I remember
looking 100, 200 feet away,
324
00:18:29,002 --> 00:18:31,670
and that part of the building
is on fire now.
325
00:18:34,424 --> 00:18:36,800
My thinking is,
"Can I outrun a fire?"
326
00:18:38,802 --> 00:18:40,512
We knew the impact was bad,
327
00:18:40,512 --> 00:18:42,598
we knew the visual was bad,
328
00:18:42,639 --> 00:18:44,600
we knew something bad had happened.
329
00:18:44,641 --> 00:18:47,270
Um, but the building
was still there,
330
00:18:47,312 --> 00:18:49,022
and I thought we were okay.
331
00:18:49,022 --> 00:18:51,565
But I was…
I turned out to be
pretty wrong about that.
332
00:18:58,614 --> 00:19:02,869
Kennedy Tower reports
that there was a fire at
the World Trade Center.
333
00:19:02,869 --> 00:19:05,204
And that's, uh,
that's the area where we
lost the airplane.
334
00:19:05,288 --> 00:19:06,538
Are you serious?
335
00:19:06,538 --> 00:19:08,540
We knew that there was
no elevator service.
336
00:19:10,376 --> 00:19:14,464
The impact in the North Tower
took out the elevator banks.
337
00:19:16,548 --> 00:19:19,135
So our only way of leaving
was the stairwells.
338
00:19:21,095 --> 00:19:25,433
I don't think anybody really
absorbed what 81 flights
of stairs was like.
339
00:19:32,398 --> 00:19:34,525
I did not have
the most sensible shoes on.
340
00:19:34,566 --> 00:19:37,403
I had like nice three-and-a-half
inch heels.
341
00:19:37,403 --> 00:19:38,695
They were lovely.
342
00:19:41,573 --> 00:19:43,575
I was with Anne Koster,
343
00:19:43,575 --> 00:19:45,661
and a few of the other
people that I worked with.
344
00:19:46,745 --> 00:19:48,373
Ann was kind of asthmatic.
345
00:19:48,580 --> 00:19:50,832
And I was going to stay with her,
no matter how long it took.
346
00:19:55,088 --> 00:19:57,048
You picture a fire in a building,
347
00:19:57,382 --> 00:20:00,009
and you picture people
just trampling people
to get out of it.
348
00:20:00,051 --> 00:20:01,344
This is not what it was.
349
00:20:02,095 --> 00:20:03,845
Two people by two,
350
00:20:04,931 --> 00:20:07,350
in a very orderly,
351
00:20:07,392 --> 00:20:10,228
almost mechanical
tempo down the stairs.
352
00:20:11,770 --> 00:20:13,689
I thought we were going to
be out of the building in no time.
353
00:20:18,528 --> 00:20:20,446
I hadn't gone
very far in the stairwell,
354
00:20:20,446 --> 00:20:21,780
and I heard someone yelling
355
00:20:21,780 --> 00:20:23,241
that there are people
stuck in an elevator.
356
00:20:26,285 --> 00:20:27,619
I got out of the stairwell.
357
00:20:28,037 --> 00:20:29,956
I went over to the elevator,
and I was able to
358
00:20:30,039 --> 00:20:35,211
get the doors open enough
to see that the elevator's
stuck between floors.
359
00:20:36,795 --> 00:20:38,381
The guys in the elevator
were panicked,
360
00:20:38,423 --> 00:20:41,050
because the elevators
had been compromised.
361
00:20:41,300 --> 00:20:43,594
So, me and another guy
run into an office,
362
00:20:43,635 --> 00:20:45,888
and we… I happened to
grab a bathroom key
363
00:20:45,930 --> 00:20:47,639
with a stick at the end of it.
364
00:20:47,932 --> 00:20:50,476
And he grabbed what looked like
a leg from a chair.
365
00:20:50,767 --> 00:20:52,311
And we get back to the elevator,
366
00:20:52,311 --> 00:20:55,772
and we're trying to
open the doors with these…
these devices.
367
00:20:59,152 --> 00:21:02,280
And we're not
opening them this way,
368
00:21:02,321 --> 00:21:04,282
the elevator doors are
just kinking this way.
369
00:21:05,657 --> 00:21:07,952
And we felt like we were
going to do more harm than good,
370
00:21:07,994 --> 00:21:10,329
so we gave them the stick
371
00:21:10,329 --> 00:21:11,788
and the and the leg from the chair
372
00:21:11,830 --> 00:21:13,416
to try to do it themselves
from the inside.
373
00:21:21,673 --> 00:21:24,093
And we left.
374
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,013
And they…
That was it.
375
00:21:27,013 --> 00:21:29,390
That was the last
I heard, I, you know…
376
00:21:29,891 --> 00:21:31,267
I don't know
if they made it or not.
377
00:21:45,865 --> 00:21:47,824
From the lower floors evacuating,
378
00:21:47,867 --> 00:21:50,786
now, the traffic was
starting to build up.
379
00:21:51,537 --> 00:21:53,206
You know?
From the bottom, up.
380
00:21:58,710 --> 00:22:00,880
Once we hit 69, it was just
381
00:22:02,839 --> 00:22:03,883
a step a minute.
382
00:22:08,221 --> 00:22:10,431
We were hearing
people yell from above us,
383
00:22:11,057 --> 00:22:13,559
"Make room, make room, make room."
384
00:22:15,686 --> 00:22:19,482
Everybody got out of the way
and parted the waters
for them to pass through.
385
00:22:20,650 --> 00:22:22,318
There were people
closer to the impact zone
386
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:24,237
who were really in very bad shape.
387
00:22:24,862 --> 00:22:27,406
That was the point when
I said to myself,
"This is very bad."
388
00:22:29,075 --> 00:22:31,494
I remember seeing
the first wounded person.
389
00:22:31,869 --> 00:22:36,249
The hair was burnt,
and his face was
sort of charcoaly black,
390
00:22:36,332 --> 00:22:41,254
and he had a open wound
from, sort of,
his wrist to his elbow,
391
00:22:42,046 --> 00:22:44,173
where the skin was
sort of peeled back.
392
00:22:44,215 --> 00:22:46,384
I remember thinking
his wristwatch was still on.
393
00:22:46,425 --> 00:22:48,219
Like, gosh that's really
gotta hurt.
394
00:22:49,679 --> 00:22:52,640
There's just people
with their faces
all sliced up from glass.
395
00:22:56,435 --> 00:22:58,604
There was one woman
that came down the steps
396
00:22:59,272 --> 00:23:01,315
with her arms outstretched.
397
00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:04,193
You could tell she was burnt,
398
00:23:06,112 --> 00:23:09,657
and the skin was literally
draped off of her arms.
399
00:23:10,449 --> 00:23:11,534
Both arms.
400
00:23:15,288 --> 00:23:17,540
That's something I don't…
I don't ever forget.
401
00:23:23,462 --> 00:23:27,466
-Hello?
-Do you, uh, see that United 175 anywhere?
402
00:23:28,467 --> 00:23:30,887
I can't get a hold of
United 175 at all right now,
403
00:23:30,928 --> 00:23:32,471
and I don't know where he went to.
404
00:23:38,561 --> 00:23:40,313
In case of a fire, or an emergency,
405
00:23:40,396 --> 00:23:44,483
it was very clear
we would all need to go
up to the 78th floor
406
00:23:44,567 --> 00:23:46,360
and await further instructions.
407
00:23:47,653 --> 00:23:50,489
I go back in my office
and I grab the whistle.
408
00:23:50,573 --> 00:23:51,782
And I left the hat.
409
00:23:51,823 --> 00:23:53,117
I didn't want to mess up my hair.
410
00:23:53,159 --> 00:23:56,537
"Everybody, time to go,
get up to the 78th floor."
411
00:23:58,830 --> 00:24:00,541
I went up to the 78th floor,
412
00:24:01,042 --> 00:24:05,296
and the elevator banks there
were just packed,
413
00:24:05,338 --> 00:24:07,965
everybody from other floors
were already evacuating.
414
00:24:08,007 --> 00:24:09,675
I'll never forget one guy.
415
00:24:09,675 --> 00:24:11,510
He literally jumped
in the middle of the people,
416
00:24:11,510 --> 00:24:12,970
and it was packed,
417
00:24:13,012 --> 00:24:15,806
Being seven months pregnant
and seeing that many people
418
00:24:16,474 --> 00:24:18,434
trying to rush out of the building,
419
00:24:18,476 --> 00:24:19,936
I felt a little unsafe.
420
00:24:21,229 --> 00:24:23,648
There's a fire warden phone.
421
00:24:23,689 --> 00:24:27,693
it's a red phone
that's a direct line
to the fire station
422
00:24:27,777 --> 00:24:29,070
down at the lobby.
423
00:24:31,197 --> 00:24:33,532
I'm holding onto the red phone,
I have it in my ear,
424
00:24:34,033 --> 00:24:36,035
and I'm waiting to hear something.
425
00:24:38,496 --> 00:24:39,956
I don't hear anything
426
00:24:42,166 --> 00:24:44,126
Some of my co-workers
were just staring at me
427
00:24:44,168 --> 00:24:46,170
like, "What do I do?"
You know,
"Do I leave? Do I stay?"
428
00:24:46,212 --> 00:24:48,214
And I'm still waiting
to hear something
on this red phone.
429
00:24:48,214 --> 00:24:49,298
I had it here.
430
00:24:49,340 --> 00:24:51,050
No one answered this red phone.
431
00:24:51,050 --> 00:24:53,469
And I told them,
"Don't worry about it,
just go ahead and leave."
432
00:24:55,137 --> 00:24:58,015
I don't know if
me holding onto the phone
433
00:24:58,057 --> 00:25:01,727
and telling them to leave
encouraged more people to leave.
434
00:25:02,186 --> 00:25:03,396
I'm not sure.
435
00:25:03,646 --> 00:25:05,314
Something inside of me just said,
436
00:25:05,356 --> 00:25:08,860
"Forget this. Get to
a stairwell and walk out."
437
00:25:09,402 --> 00:25:11,070
The stairs were
right there on the left,
438
00:25:11,070 --> 00:25:12,989
so I just followed the crowd
down the stairwell.
439
00:25:18,744 --> 00:25:20,830
Hey, Joe, you see 3321 code
440
00:25:20,872 --> 00:25:23,749
just southwest of Newark by
about 18, 18, 20 miles.
441
00:25:24,417 --> 00:25:26,585
We don't know who he is.
We're just picking him up now.
442
00:25:26,585 --> 00:25:28,296
All right. Heads up,
man, it looks like another one.
443
00:25:28,379 --> 00:25:29,422
All right.
444
00:25:31,674 --> 00:25:33,801
Several managers
decided to go to our areas
445
00:25:34,260 --> 00:25:36,095
to make sure that
446
00:25:36,095 --> 00:25:40,182
nobody else was on the floor
before we left ourselves.
447
00:25:41,852 --> 00:25:43,269
So I decided to go down,
448
00:25:43,352 --> 00:25:45,688
take the escalator and go back down
to my office area.
449
00:25:47,899 --> 00:25:51,027
The north side of our floor looked
directly at the north tower.
450
00:25:56,615 --> 00:25:57,742
Within a couple of minutes,
451
00:25:57,783 --> 00:26:00,077
we actually saw
people start to appear
452
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,621
at the edges of this, this gash.
453
00:26:03,205 --> 00:26:07,960
You literally could see
everything up close.
454
00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:11,297
You could see the expression
on the people's faces,
455
00:26:11,380 --> 00:26:14,091
you could see the smoke,
you could see the fire,
456
00:26:14,133 --> 00:26:18,721
and you were like,
"Oh, my gosh!"
It looked like hell in there.
457
00:26:21,807 --> 00:26:26,395
I looked up in the sky
and I see a gentleman
in a white shirt
458
00:26:26,437 --> 00:26:27,396
and a tie.
459
00:26:28,272 --> 00:26:30,232
Nothing wrong with him.
460
00:26:30,274 --> 00:26:32,735
He's not bleeding,
he's not on fire.
461
00:26:32,777 --> 00:26:35,613
He's physically fine,
462
00:26:35,654 --> 00:26:38,909
except he's flying down
like he was skydiving.
463
00:26:45,331 --> 00:26:47,416
It's just a vision, you know.
464
00:26:47,458 --> 00:26:49,335
I still, I can still see it.
465
00:26:54,590 --> 00:26:57,009
I saw a group of three people.
466
00:26:57,093 --> 00:26:58,594
with two men and a woman.
467
00:26:58,636 --> 00:27:00,638
And they all made
the sign of the cross
468
00:27:00,679 --> 00:27:04,266
and they all held hands and…
and jumped.
469
00:27:05,267 --> 00:27:08,145
And I had to turn away.
470
00:27:08,521 --> 00:27:10,731
I never saw where they landed.
471
00:27:14,193 --> 00:27:18,949
That's one memory that is
seared into my brain
that will never, never leave.
472
00:27:22,869 --> 00:27:25,287
I was starting to feel
a little more scared,
473
00:27:25,329 --> 00:27:29,375
even though we were
not in immediate danger
in the South Tower.
474
00:27:30,709 --> 00:27:32,879
We had no idea
the clock was ticking
at that point.
475
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:35,548
It seemed like we were safe.
476
00:27:35,882 --> 00:27:37,466
We didn't realise that we were in
477
00:27:37,508 --> 00:27:39,593
the most dangerous
place in the world
at that very moment.
478
00:27:50,897 --> 00:27:53,149
We have several situations
goin' on here.
479
00:27:53,190 --> 00:27:54,442
It's escalating big, big time.
480
00:27:56,569 --> 00:27:58,571
Just get me somebody
who has the authority to
get military in the air, now.
481
00:28:09,665 --> 00:28:12,418
I'd never been in the stairwell of
the South Tower before.
482
00:28:12,835 --> 00:28:16,505
It was just a sea of heads
as you'd turn each corner.
483
00:28:17,007 --> 00:28:19,425
Nobody's pushing, nobody's yelling,
484
00:28:19,508 --> 00:28:20,759
nobody's shoving.
485
00:28:20,759 --> 00:28:23,387
It's just orderly
down the stairs together.
486
00:28:24,513 --> 00:28:26,599
At that point
I bumped into Henry,
487
00:28:26,682 --> 00:28:28,517
and I said,
"What's going on?
What happened?"
488
00:28:29,351 --> 00:28:32,480
And somebody said
a small plane flew
into North Tower.
489
00:28:32,813 --> 00:28:36,108
I really still thought
it was just a Cessna
and a pure accident.
490
00:28:36,108 --> 00:28:37,693
I didn't think that
there was any terrorism.
491
00:28:38,110 --> 00:28:41,031
I had no idea, the magnitude
of what just happened.
492
00:28:43,950 --> 00:28:46,118
Must be around 65th floor.
493
00:28:46,118 --> 00:28:47,578
An announcement comes on,
494
00:28:47,620 --> 00:28:50,874
and it's a woman who sounds
a little bit nervous.
495
00:28:52,791 --> 00:28:55,377
"Due to a smoke condition
in tower one,
496
00:28:55,419 --> 00:28:57,505
"that building is being evacuated.
497
00:28:57,588 --> 00:29:01,300
"There is no reason
to evacuate tower two
at this time."
498
00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:04,303
"If you want to leave, you can.
499
00:29:04,845 --> 00:29:08,599
"If you want to stay,
you can return to your office."
500
00:29:08,975 --> 00:29:11,978
So, she really left it to
whatever everybody wanted to do.
501
00:29:13,812 --> 00:29:15,982
It was like the stairs opened.
502
00:29:16,649 --> 00:29:19,235
People in mass amounts just left.
503
00:29:20,946 --> 00:29:22,446
At least a third of the people,
504
00:29:22,488 --> 00:29:25,324
maybe half of the people
turned around and said,
505
00:29:25,324 --> 00:29:27,493
"Fine, I'm going
back to my office."
506
00:29:27,493 --> 00:29:29,120
And you saw people going,
507
00:29:29,161 --> 00:29:31,497
turning around
right into the stairs
where they were
508
00:29:31,580 --> 00:29:33,332
and taking the elevator back up.
509
00:29:33,415 --> 00:29:37,294
But my insides are telling me
there's something wrong,
you have to get out.
510
00:29:38,129 --> 00:29:39,838
And my colleague says to me,
511
00:29:39,923 --> 00:29:41,298
"I think we should keep going.
512
00:29:41,757 --> 00:29:43,259
"It may not have been an accident."
513
00:29:48,098 --> 00:29:50,349
15,000, descending.
514
00:29:50,558 --> 00:29:51,935
Just Southwest of Newark,
about 20 miles.
515
00:29:53,185 --> 00:29:55,604
He's out of 9,500.
9,000 now.
516
00:29:55,646 --> 00:29:58,108
This guy's a big boy,
cos he's leavin'
some big contrails.
517
00:30:07,575 --> 00:30:09,035
Bob Levine and Steve Weinberg
518
00:30:09,035 --> 00:30:11,121
had come down from the 78th floor,
519
00:30:11,162 --> 00:30:12,496
which is where their offices were.
520
00:30:12,538 --> 00:30:15,207
I was talking with
Bob and Steve,
521
00:30:15,207 --> 00:30:16,876
and Bob said to me,
522
00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:20,171
he says, "You know,
they're saying you can stay."
523
00:30:20,212 --> 00:30:22,798
And I said, "These people can't get
a fire drill straight."
524
00:30:23,215 --> 00:30:25,010
And they said,
"What are you guys gonna do?"
525
00:30:25,051 --> 00:30:26,385
And we said,
"We're leaving."
526
00:30:29,221 --> 00:30:30,974
Stephen called me
from his cell phone
527
00:30:31,016 --> 00:30:34,560
and told me that
he was looking outside
at the other building,
528
00:30:34,643 --> 00:30:40,150
that he could see debris,
almost like confetti and smoke.
529
00:30:40,816 --> 00:30:42,735
So, I said,
"You need to leave."
530
00:30:43,862 --> 00:30:46,697
And he said,
"They're telling us
that we're safe here.
531
00:30:46,739 --> 00:30:49,200
"This was the other building.
We're okay."
532
00:30:49,241 --> 00:30:52,162
And I said, "I don't care.
You need to leave."
533
00:30:53,412 --> 00:30:55,289
So Bob and Steve
went back upstairs.
534
00:30:56,749 --> 00:31:00,003
It had to have been
a couple of minutes past 9:00.
535
00:31:04,256 --> 00:31:08,260
So, I got up, turned on the radio,
and started listening.
536
00:31:09,095 --> 00:31:12,223
A major disaster is occurring
In New York City this morning.
537
00:31:12,264 --> 00:31:14,893
As to how this happened,
well, the FBI is looking…
538
00:31:15,894 --> 00:31:17,394
Hey, can you look out your window
right now?
539
00:31:17,436 --> 00:31:19,022
-Yeah.
-It's descending really quick.
540
00:31:19,064 --> 00:31:21,607
He just dropped 800 feet in,
like, like one, one sweep.
541
00:31:21,607 --> 00:31:23,026
That's another situation.
542
00:31:28,447 --> 00:31:30,616
When I got to the 44th floor,
543
00:31:30,699 --> 00:31:32,035
we hit congestion.
544
00:31:33,786 --> 00:31:35,246
As we got to that floor,
545
00:31:35,287 --> 00:31:39,375
we were being directed
to the opposite side
of the building.
546
00:31:43,712 --> 00:31:46,216
It was pretty much full of people
547
00:31:46,257 --> 00:31:47,967
that had come down
from other stairwells.
548
00:31:49,635 --> 00:31:52,138
And as I made my way
over to the window,
549
00:31:52,554 --> 00:31:55,808
it caught my eye, this beautiful
bright blue sky,
550
00:31:55,808 --> 00:31:59,311
and there's sort of
papers floating down.
551
00:32:00,939 --> 00:32:04,067
I'm almost smiling at sort of
the beauty of the scene.
552
00:32:06,152 --> 00:32:08,279
And there was this sort of sound.
553
00:32:10,031 --> 00:32:13,367
It sounded like glass,
twinkling down
the side of the building.
554
00:32:15,078 --> 00:32:16,745
Sort of a wind chime almost.
555
00:32:18,039 --> 00:32:20,541
I realise that it's the glass
that's just cracking.
556
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:37,433
An enormous fireball came flying
towards the window.
557
00:32:38,350 --> 00:32:40,561
I did not know
what that fireball was.
558
00:32:42,105 --> 00:32:43,772
I'm right back into the terror.
559
00:32:43,814 --> 00:32:46,067
It's just screams and pandemonium.
560
00:32:48,027 --> 00:32:52,115
And then,
I heard the announcer saying
another plane is coming in.
561
00:32:53,782 --> 00:32:55,367
Oh, my God.
562
00:32:55,952 --> 00:32:58,454
It went through the 88th floor.
563
00:33:00,748 --> 00:33:03,293
And I just started to scream.
564
00:33:05,003 --> 00:33:06,129
And fell to the floor.
565
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:08,547
"Steven is dead!
Steven is dead!"
566
00:33:11,383 --> 00:33:12,551
Bang!
567
00:33:12,551 --> 00:33:13,635
Boom!
568
00:33:15,387 --> 00:33:16,680
It came careening
through the building
right above our heads.
569
00:33:18,557 --> 00:33:19,976
Then all hell broke loose.
570
00:33:25,064 --> 00:33:27,233
The building just
went back like this.
571
00:33:27,566 --> 00:33:29,735
And my head went back and snapped.
572
00:33:29,735 --> 00:33:32,989
It felt like the building
was going to snap in half.
573
00:33:34,740 --> 00:33:36,868
I felt it going from side to side.
574
00:33:37,368 --> 00:33:39,578
You know?
It was just like being on a ship.
575
00:33:42,539 --> 00:33:43,917
The sensation was that of falling.
576
00:33:43,917 --> 00:33:45,417
Like the building was coming down,
577
00:33:45,417 --> 00:33:47,212
and I felt like I was
falling through the building.
578
00:33:50,256 --> 00:33:51,966
It happened all in slow motion.
579
00:33:52,050 --> 00:33:53,259
Everything slowed down.
580
00:33:56,930 --> 00:33:59,598
All the glass went
flying across the floor.
581
00:34:04,062 --> 00:34:05,855
The tiles started coming down.
582
00:34:10,318 --> 00:34:12,111
Duh-duh-duh-duh.
Like a set of dominos.
583
00:34:17,951 --> 00:34:19,118
The lights were out.
584
00:34:19,118 --> 00:34:21,745
It was like literally
one moment was day,
585
00:34:21,787 --> 00:34:23,039
the next moment was night.
586
00:34:25,291 --> 00:34:28,460
There was all this black smoke.
Like somebody did a magic act,
like nothing was there.
587
00:34:30,671 --> 00:34:33,967
It just was like
a surreal kind of…
588
00:34:34,384 --> 00:34:36,386
Like, what in the world
just happened?
589
00:34:36,718 --> 00:34:38,096
Another one just hit the building.
590
00:34:38,137 --> 00:34:40,431
Wow. The whole building
just came apart.
591
00:34:40,472 --> 00:34:42,141
-Oh, God.
-Holy smokes.
592
00:34:42,141 --> 00:34:45,561
I went into the bedroom
and sat down
on his side of the bed.
593
00:34:47,813 --> 00:34:49,481
Praying for the phone to ring.
594
00:34:51,985 --> 00:34:55,821
I had maybe
a very, very, very small
glimmer of hope,
595
00:34:56,447 --> 00:34:59,491
because Steven always
used to say to me,
596
00:34:59,575 --> 00:35:01,743
"You always think the worst.
Don't think the worst."
597
00:35:02,996 --> 00:35:05,497
And so I thought,
"Well then,
598
00:35:05,497 --> 00:35:09,419
"I'm going to try to think
of a little bit of hope, maybe?"
599
00:35:25,018 --> 00:35:26,185
The news is on,
600
00:35:26,269 --> 00:35:27,728
and I'm watching…
601
00:35:28,229 --> 00:35:29,314
I felt…
602
00:35:30,522 --> 00:35:32,608
like, "Is this really happening?
603
00:35:32,649 --> 00:35:33,817
"This is crazy."
604
00:35:35,652 --> 00:35:37,696
Alfredo and I
had just gotten married.
605
00:35:38,530 --> 00:35:41,492
I used to visit Alfredo
at the South Tower.
606
00:35:42,618 --> 00:35:46,039
And I kept dialing his number,
and dialing his number,
and there was nothing.
607
00:35:48,707 --> 00:35:50,418
And you see another plane.
608
00:35:54,464 --> 00:35:55,924
Oh, my God.
609
00:36:00,303 --> 00:36:01,553
What the hell?
610
00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:05,350
My husband was in that building.
611
00:36:09,479 --> 00:36:11,105
And I still haven't
heard from Alfred.
612
00:36:47,641 --> 00:36:49,060
I don't even know what happened.
613
00:36:49,102 --> 00:36:51,479
I'm walking down the stairs,
and the next thing…
614
00:36:52,729 --> 00:36:54,148
Everybody is knocked to the ground.
615
00:36:55,191 --> 00:36:57,276
And there is this
ringing sound in my ears.
616
00:36:59,237 --> 00:37:01,280
All of a sudden, we're leaning,
617
00:37:01,280 --> 00:37:03,992
and I'm fighting to
keep myself standing.
618
00:37:05,784 --> 00:37:07,619
The entire stairwell is rocking.
619
00:37:07,996 --> 00:37:09,621
Swinging like as if
you're on a Ferris wheel.
620
00:37:10,498 --> 00:37:12,208
And then, all you heard
was screaming.
621
00:37:15,294 --> 00:37:18,589
I lost complete confidence
in the structure that I was in.
622
00:37:18,923 --> 00:37:20,757
The panic sets in.
I need to get out of here.
623
00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:42,947
I didn't know
a plane hit that building.
624
00:37:42,989 --> 00:37:44,823
I didn't know a plane hit
this building neither.
625
00:37:45,074 --> 00:37:48,702
All I'm noticing is
what's happening
in front of me, right?
626
00:37:51,330 --> 00:37:54,250
I remember looking
and seeing my office
627
00:37:54,625 --> 00:37:57,211
caved in, collapsed,
the ceiling was gone.
628
00:37:57,295 --> 00:37:59,505
By this point I was
really, really shaking.
629
00:37:59,589 --> 00:38:04,676
Because I came down
the escalator from 78 to 77
630
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:06,054
less than two minutes earlier.
631
00:38:07,597 --> 00:38:10,600
And I knew the people that
I had just talked to were all dead.
632
00:38:11,350 --> 00:38:13,978
All the people above us,
on the 78th floor
633
00:38:14,020 --> 00:38:15,480
waiting for elevators…
634
00:38:17,190 --> 00:38:20,318
To picture that in my mind
is just an unbearable
thought to think.
635
00:38:20,359 --> 00:38:21,735
They didn't have a chance.
636
00:38:23,362 --> 00:38:24,696
Whether you went up,
or whether you went down,
637
00:38:24,696 --> 00:38:25,865
whether you went left,
or whether you went right,
638
00:38:27,533 --> 00:38:28,910
that decided whether
you were going to
live or die that day.
639
00:38:33,956 --> 00:38:36,708
Then I remember hearing
Jonathan Weinberg yell,
640
00:38:36,792 --> 00:38:38,628
"Over here, over here,
over here."
641
00:38:39,295 --> 00:38:43,216
And going to the north side,
to stairway A.
642
00:38:45,384 --> 00:38:49,388
The only person I could see
was my boss, Carl,
643
00:38:49,388 --> 00:38:51,557
and I was like,
"Just follow him."
644
00:38:56,395 --> 00:38:58,648
It was dark, and it was smoky.
645
00:39:00,691 --> 00:39:02,276
That stairway was not passable.
646
00:39:04,736 --> 00:39:09,575
I remember going
to the central fire escape,
stairway B.
647
00:39:15,414 --> 00:39:18,834
I normally would see
the windows on the other side
and see daylight.
648
00:39:19,919 --> 00:39:22,380
I didn't see nothing.
It was pitch black.
649
00:39:22,421 --> 00:39:24,549
It was like a big void.
650
00:39:26,425 --> 00:39:28,219
It was almost like that whole area
651
00:39:28,261 --> 00:39:30,846
just disappeared, that's how black
it was.
652
00:39:32,723 --> 00:39:35,017
We were not gonna go that way,
that was not a choice, okay?
653
00:39:37,562 --> 00:39:39,647
So we tried to get to stairway C.
654
00:39:50,408 --> 00:39:51,951
I was a good 20 feet away,
655
00:39:51,951 --> 00:39:53,870
and I could feel the flames
from over there.
656
00:39:57,748 --> 00:40:01,294
And I was like,
"That's not a good thing.
657
00:40:01,294 --> 00:40:02,794
"We're not getting out that way."
658
00:40:05,131 --> 00:40:06,757
There was just no way to escape.
659
00:40:07,425 --> 00:40:08,800
The thought I had was,
660
00:40:10,344 --> 00:40:13,931
"Oh, my God!
We're in the same
situation now ourselves
661
00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,685
"as the people
that we were just looking at
662
00:40:17,768 --> 00:40:19,395
"across in the other building."
663
00:40:23,232 --> 00:40:25,443
I looked at the windows
right there.
664
00:40:26,777 --> 00:40:29,989
And I was like,
"If you have to jump,
you have to jump.
665
00:40:30,031 --> 00:40:31,866
"You just do it quick
and you're done."
666
00:40:34,660 --> 00:40:36,037
I was just standing there,
667
00:40:36,954 --> 00:40:38,497
really didn't know what to do.
668
00:40:39,123 --> 00:40:40,750
I can't feel my baby move.
669
00:40:43,169 --> 00:40:48,007
I remember seeing then Jyoti,
who was seven months pregnant.
670
00:40:48,299 --> 00:40:51,093
And somebody came back
and grabbed my hand.
671
00:40:51,510 --> 00:40:54,263
We need to make sure
she gets out, you know?
672
00:40:54,305 --> 00:40:57,475
If we have to sacrifice
ourselves, we do so,
673
00:40:57,516 --> 00:40:58,809
to make sure she got out.
674
00:40:59,852 --> 00:41:01,520
So, it was important, okay?
675
00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,232
That's the whole thing
about Baseline.
We were all a family.
676
00:41:06,859 --> 00:41:08,194
The final image that I have
677
00:41:08,277 --> 00:41:10,863
is of my co-workers standing there,
678
00:41:10,863 --> 00:41:12,365
kind of banding together.
679
00:41:13,032 --> 00:41:15,534
I just felt that we as a group,
680
00:41:16,369 --> 00:41:18,204
we were all gonna die together,
681
00:41:18,246 --> 00:41:20,164
or we were all gonna
get out of there together.
682
00:41:28,965 --> 00:41:31,342
In the 70s,
I ran into my boss Mike.
683
00:41:32,385 --> 00:41:34,470
He told me that everyone else
in the office was
684
00:41:34,512 --> 00:41:36,055
further along than we were.
685
00:41:36,055 --> 00:41:38,307
And so we were the last two
from our office.
686
00:41:40,559 --> 00:41:44,730
And as we're going down,
the entrance to the 68th floor
was opened.
687
00:41:45,064 --> 00:41:50,444
We could hear other people
trying to figure out
how to evacuate.
688
00:41:53,865 --> 00:41:56,367
Mike and I entered this office
689
00:41:57,410 --> 00:41:59,203
where we saw this group of people
690
00:41:59,245 --> 00:42:00,955
just kind of standing around.
691
00:42:03,916 --> 00:42:06,252
I'm like,
"You've got to get out of here,
the stairwell's clear."
692
00:42:06,252 --> 00:42:08,838
And they weren't listening to us.
693
00:42:10,882 --> 00:42:13,509
I started kind of
grabbing people by the shoulder
694
00:42:13,551 --> 00:42:15,219
and telling them to move and…
695
00:42:15,261 --> 00:42:18,264
A woman steps aside,
and there I see this
woman in a wheelchair.
696
00:42:20,933 --> 00:42:23,144
Now we understand why everyone else
wasn't moving.
697
00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:26,272
She seemed a little anxious.
698
00:42:26,939 --> 00:42:30,151
We asked her if she wanted help,
and she said yes.
699
00:42:32,111 --> 00:42:34,113
And I said,
"Okay, let's bring her down."
700
00:42:34,196 --> 00:42:36,615
Thinking we'd be able to
get her down
the motorized wheelchair.
701
00:42:37,742 --> 00:42:40,453
But the wheelchair had
a heavy motor.
702
00:42:40,953 --> 00:42:42,371
It wasn't meant
to go down the steps.
703
00:42:43,789 --> 00:42:47,376
And now I'm like anxious.
704
00:42:48,210 --> 00:42:51,630
She told us that
there was another option,
705
00:42:51,630 --> 00:42:53,966
an evacuation wheelchair.
706
00:42:55,968 --> 00:42:58,137
I picked up the woman
out of the motorized wheelchair
707
00:42:58,220 --> 00:42:59,305
and put her in
the evacuation chair.
708
00:42:59,764 --> 00:43:01,974
Because she was relatively petite,
709
00:43:02,058 --> 00:43:03,184
we just picked her up.
710
00:43:03,267 --> 00:43:04,727
There was a handle on each side
711
00:43:04,769 --> 00:43:06,897
and I was on the left, and
John was on the right.
712
00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:11,902
And that's when
I started just thinking
about what the task was
713
00:43:11,943 --> 00:43:16,530
going to be ahead of us
to walk down
68 flights of stairs.
714
00:43:19,492 --> 00:43:21,285
I'm making my way downstairs
715
00:43:21,327 --> 00:43:25,998
in the middle of the worst event
716
00:43:26,582 --> 00:43:29,627
as far as destruction on US soil
717
00:43:29,668 --> 00:43:32,088
and not even know
I'm in the middle of it.
718
00:43:50,147 --> 00:43:51,565
We needed to get out of here.
719
00:43:52,608 --> 00:43:54,903
Staircase C wasn't an option.
720
00:43:55,486 --> 00:43:57,738
B was such an unknown.
721
00:43:58,406 --> 00:44:01,367
And A wasn't any better!
It was full of smoke.
722
00:44:02,201 --> 00:44:04,120
We don't know what
we were getting into,
723
00:44:04,370 --> 00:44:07,081
but we knew that was
the only option
we had at this point.
724
00:44:09,500 --> 00:44:11,710
I went back in my office
and grabbed the flashlight.
725
00:44:14,547 --> 00:44:17,174
When we first
got into the stairwell,
726
00:44:18,969 --> 00:44:22,013
was where we encountered
a lot of white smoke
727
00:44:23,722 --> 00:44:25,724
and we all had to hold hands.
728
00:44:29,395 --> 00:44:33,149
The stairwell was cracked,
it was damaged.
729
00:44:34,358 --> 00:44:37,988
There's wires, and there's this
water coming down.
730
00:44:41,157 --> 00:44:43,742
I was thinking probably
the sprinkler kicked in
731
00:44:43,826 --> 00:44:46,328
and it's the water that
we are walking on.
732
00:44:48,999 --> 00:44:50,959
The smell
on the stairway was distinct.
733
00:44:51,042 --> 00:44:54,253
But for some reason I just,
I didn't put one and
one together at that point.
734
00:44:58,257 --> 00:45:00,176
It was really, really dark.
735
00:45:00,509 --> 00:45:02,595
You couldn't see more than
a foot in front of you,
736
00:45:02,595 --> 00:45:03,762
with the flashlight.
737
00:45:05,264 --> 00:45:08,852
And somebody saying that
they wanted to light a match.
738
00:45:13,105 --> 00:45:16,985
I distinctly remember
smelling something.
739
00:45:18,819 --> 00:45:21,822
Half the people
I was with smoked.
740
00:45:23,782 --> 00:45:26,535
And then I realised,
there was no sprinklers going off.
741
00:45:29,413 --> 00:45:32,541
Something in me said
do not light a match.
742
00:45:37,129 --> 00:45:38,924
That's not water, that's Jet fuel.
743
00:45:38,965 --> 00:45:41,634
The plane had essentially
crashed right above us,
744
00:45:41,634 --> 00:45:43,469
and had cracked open,
745
00:45:43,469 --> 00:45:46,639
and the fuel was spilling down
the stairway steps.
746
00:45:47,057 --> 00:45:52,062
And if they had lit the match
we would've burned up.
747
00:46:07,785 --> 00:46:09,286
We're still moving pretty good pace
748
00:46:09,328 --> 00:46:11,122
from 68 to 55.
749
00:46:13,332 --> 00:46:17,336
There was a light hearted nature
of conversation
750
00:46:17,336 --> 00:46:19,255
that was really thinly veiling
751
00:46:19,755 --> 00:46:22,341
everyone being worried
about what was going on.
752
00:46:23,425 --> 00:46:25,011
I wanted to call my parents.
753
00:46:25,344 --> 00:46:27,429
I got out of the stair well
and found a phone.
754
00:46:29,431 --> 00:46:31,308
My phone rang at my desk,
755
00:46:31,809 --> 00:46:33,352
and I picked it up and it was John,
756
00:46:33,352 --> 00:46:34,770
Hey, Dad, it's me.
757
00:46:35,354 --> 00:46:37,481
And I said, "Are you…
are you okay?"
758
00:46:38,274 --> 00:46:39,358
I said, "I'm in the building."
759
00:46:39,985 --> 00:46:41,485
I asked him which floor he was on.
760
00:46:41,527 --> 00:46:44,697
I think I lied and said
I was way further down.
761
00:46:45,489 --> 00:46:46,824
I'm almost out.
762
00:46:46,866 --> 00:46:49,201
I said, "Well, just keep on,
just keep oncoming out."
763
00:46:49,201 --> 00:46:51,328
The tone of his voice was…
764
00:46:52,329 --> 00:46:53,957
Yeah, it was intense.
765
00:46:53,999 --> 00:46:55,666
I was worried
766
00:46:55,708 --> 00:46:58,711
that he knew something
and I didn't feel like asking him.
767
00:47:01,338 --> 00:47:04,633
When I spoke to John
I knew that
768
00:47:04,675 --> 00:47:06,385
this was a deliberate attack,
769
00:47:06,468 --> 00:47:07,761
it wasn't an accident.
770
00:47:09,180 --> 00:47:10,974
I didn't think it was
a good thing to tell him.
771
00:47:11,016 --> 00:47:14,144
The circumstance
didn't matter as much as
772
00:47:15,394 --> 00:47:18,272
the job of encouraging him
to get out of that building.
773
00:47:39,961 --> 00:47:41,587
We had no idea what was going on.
774
00:47:41,670 --> 00:47:43,756
We didn't have the
perspective that the rest
of the world had.
775
00:47:46,092 --> 00:47:47,384
In the North Tower,
776
00:47:47,426 --> 00:47:49,929
cell phone service
was was non-existent,
777
00:47:50,013 --> 00:47:51,805
I don't know if it
was jammed, if it went down,
778
00:47:51,890 --> 00:47:53,224
but there was no cell service.
779
00:47:57,103 --> 00:47:58,604
There were no smart phones,
780
00:47:58,604 --> 00:48:00,439
there's no way to know
what was going on,
781
00:48:00,439 --> 00:48:01,900
unless you spoke to somebody.
782
00:48:04,194 --> 00:48:07,404
But I did hear someone say
783
00:48:07,446 --> 00:48:09,657
"Oh, my Blackberry says
784
00:48:09,740 --> 00:48:11,868
"that a plane hit the towers."
785
00:48:11,910 --> 00:48:13,619
And I'm like,
"What's a Blackberry?"
786
00:48:13,702 --> 00:48:16,455
How do you have news on a phone?
787
00:48:16,538 --> 00:48:20,417
It didn't compute, so
I just dismissed it outright.
788
00:48:22,128 --> 00:48:23,796
It was hot as hell in there.
789
00:48:24,463 --> 00:48:27,466
It probably felt like
100 degrees in there.
790
00:48:27,508 --> 00:48:29,802
Probably even higher,
and you, everyone is sweating.
791
00:48:29,886 --> 00:48:32,471
And you want to just
be as calm as you can.
792
00:48:32,471 --> 00:48:35,141
Being in a cramped stairwell
with that many people,
793
00:48:35,225 --> 00:48:38,602
my nerves were so on edge,
I felt like I could crack.
794
00:48:40,980 --> 00:48:44,358
I discovered being claustrophobic
when I was in that staircase.
795
00:48:45,193 --> 00:48:47,153
I started to panic a little bit,
796
00:48:47,237 --> 00:48:50,240
and it's like being pinned
to the floor and
not being able to move.
797
00:48:50,489 --> 00:48:52,491
Uh, it did a number on me.
798
00:48:57,956 --> 00:49:00,166
A woman that was with us
in the group said,
799
00:49:00,250 --> 00:49:02,085
"Well, why don't you take
your jacket off?"
800
00:49:02,919 --> 00:49:04,795
Oh, that would be a smart idea.
801
00:49:04,837 --> 00:49:06,297
"Oh, you can take
your tie off, too,
802
00:49:06,338 --> 00:49:08,174
"you know, you're not going
to appointments today, Neil.
803
00:49:08,258 --> 00:49:10,843
"You can sort of let it out."
804
00:49:11,343 --> 00:49:13,637
But I didn't want
to get undressed, because
805
00:49:13,679 --> 00:49:17,183
I felt that if I didn't
admit to myself,
806
00:49:18,017 --> 00:49:19,853
that I didn't need
these items anymore,
807
00:49:19,853 --> 00:49:21,187
there was a sense
that I'm getting out.
808
00:49:21,271 --> 00:49:23,148
There's a sense that I'm alive.
809
00:49:25,566 --> 00:49:27,318
I was with Ann Koster
for a long time,
810
00:49:27,359 --> 00:49:29,028
Very, very wonderful woman.
811
00:49:29,028 --> 00:49:30,362
She was part of my team.
812
00:49:30,446 --> 00:49:32,115
Anne was kind of asthmatic,
813
00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:37,036
I was worried
about Anne. I was worried
about anything
814
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:40,165
that would cause her
to have an attack.
815
00:49:40,206 --> 00:49:42,208
I just didn't let myself
go to pieces
816
00:49:42,250 --> 00:49:44,085
cos that wouldn't wouldn't
do anybody any good.
817
00:49:47,172 --> 00:49:49,215
She was having trouble
moving down the steps.
818
00:49:49,215 --> 00:49:52,051
She actually at one point
started going down
the steps sideways,
819
00:49:52,302 --> 00:49:53,635
one step at a time.
820
00:49:54,511 --> 00:49:57,556
I tried to ease her burden
by taking her jacket
821
00:49:57,556 --> 00:49:59,893
and I took her
pocket book from her,
822
00:49:59,893 --> 00:50:01,936
and I carried that you know for as
long as I was with her.
823
00:50:03,354 --> 00:50:04,856
Maybe in the 30's or 40's,
824
00:50:05,148 --> 00:50:06,732
we saw our first
fire fighter come up.
825
00:50:10,736 --> 00:50:13,364
and people were
cheering him, people were,
"Hey, the fire fighters coming,
826
00:50:13,405 --> 00:50:14,698
"he's gonna put out the fire."
827
00:50:14,740 --> 00:50:17,368
They were carrying hoses
and picks and equipment
828
00:50:17,409 --> 00:50:20,079
and just trudging up those steps.
829
00:50:22,748 --> 00:50:24,541
I know I couldn't walk up
830
00:50:24,583 --> 00:50:28,046
40 flights of stairs on my own with
nothing on me
831
00:50:28,087 --> 00:50:31,132
and here these guys
are carrying 60,
832
00:50:31,216 --> 00:50:33,009
100 pounds of equipment.
833
00:50:35,887 --> 00:50:38,014
We would go into different floors
834
00:50:38,514 --> 00:50:40,641
and find vending machines,
835
00:50:42,143 --> 00:50:45,355
and we'd break
the vending machines open
so that we could get water
836
00:50:45,396 --> 00:50:46,688
or soda or drinks.
837
00:50:47,398 --> 00:50:49,775
We were giving them to the firemen
838
00:50:49,775 --> 00:50:51,735
and pouring it on their
heads to try to cool them off.
839
00:50:55,031 --> 00:50:57,533
Someone that, sort of, seemingly
in charge,
840
00:50:57,574 --> 00:51:01,246
taken a poll of where
everyone's coming from.
841
00:51:01,287 --> 00:51:03,705
"What floor were you on?"
And somebody going, "57."
842
00:51:03,747 --> 00:51:05,791
"It was above us." And
"67, it was above us."
843
00:51:05,791 --> 00:51:07,626
And he asked me and I said, "81."
844
00:51:08,127 --> 00:51:10,796
And his face just went
completely white.
845
00:51:15,801 --> 00:51:19,305
I'm like, look behind me,
there's nobody left up there.
846
00:51:19,389 --> 00:51:21,640
I'm like, "Let it burn."
847
00:51:22,267 --> 00:51:24,978
And his answer
was to me, "It's my job."
848
00:51:25,811 --> 00:51:26,812
All right.
849
00:51:28,147 --> 00:51:30,275
I wished him luck, and
he went up and I went down.
850
00:51:31,317 --> 00:51:34,153
I didn't know there was
a second plane, I didn't know
it was terrorist attack.
851
00:51:34,237 --> 00:51:35,947
Didn't know any of that,
but they did,
852
00:51:37,573 --> 00:51:39,450
and they still went up.
853
00:52:03,474 --> 00:52:06,144
As we were going down, there's
no more stairs.
854
00:52:06,185 --> 00:52:07,854
It's a landing,
it leads us straight.
855
00:52:07,896 --> 00:52:09,063
We kept on walking,
856
00:52:10,398 --> 00:52:11,773
and eventually, now,
we're in front of this wall.
857
00:52:17,322 --> 00:52:19,240
There was a wall here,
and wall here,
858
00:52:19,324 --> 00:52:21,533
I was like, okay, this
feels like a dead end.
859
00:52:22,368 --> 00:52:25,746
There was a sense
of panic among everyone.
860
00:52:25,829 --> 00:52:28,707
If this not continuing,
where do we go now?
861
00:52:29,833 --> 00:52:33,046
Everybody has a quiet moment,
that was my quiet moment.
862
00:52:35,506 --> 00:52:39,718
I just was trying
to keep myself together.
863
00:52:41,387 --> 00:52:43,764
We're literally staring
at a brick wall.
864
00:52:43,847 --> 00:52:45,724
"Oh, my God, there's
no way out of here."
865
00:53:07,704 --> 00:53:11,084
I used to visit Alfredo at
the 77th floor.
866
00:53:12,293 --> 00:53:15,338
It's horrible.
You're seeing it
and you see it's on fire.
867
00:53:15,380 --> 00:53:20,676
And it's unbelievable.
It's unbelievable.
868
00:53:22,011 --> 00:53:23,845
These are innocent people.
869
00:53:24,889 --> 00:53:27,433
I was on the phone
trying to reach Alfredo.
870
00:53:29,102 --> 00:53:32,939
Not knowing where he was,
it was devastating.
871
00:53:52,959 --> 00:53:55,128
Having gone down only
one flight of stairs,
872
00:53:55,128 --> 00:53:56,963
and to be faced with a brick wall,
873
00:53:56,963 --> 00:54:00,632
it seemed like that was
the end, it could be
game over at that point.
874
00:54:01,884 --> 00:54:04,178
It's just an uncomfortable feeling.
875
00:54:04,262 --> 00:54:08,057
Now I'm going to go
back up, we're moving as
to go back up these stairs.
876
00:54:11,436 --> 00:54:13,438
And we finally see,
there was light underneath,
877
00:54:13,479 --> 00:54:15,023
and we see there's a door
here that says "exit".
878
00:54:16,566 --> 00:54:19,277
You're like "phew," that's
a little relief, there, right?
879
00:54:19,318 --> 00:54:21,487
We see a door, we open a door,
880
00:54:21,571 --> 00:54:24,157
and it led us through
this little corridor
881
00:54:26,742 --> 00:54:29,828
that led us to another
set of stairs. That was lit.
882
00:54:33,249 --> 00:54:35,834
To this day I don't know
why that stairwell
angled like that,
883
00:54:35,877 --> 00:54:37,420
at that floor, at that point,
884
00:54:39,630 --> 00:54:41,840
but we were incredibly lucky
that we were able to find
our way out of it in the dark.
885
00:54:46,845 --> 00:54:50,516
76 stories to go down
at that point.
886
00:54:50,849 --> 00:54:52,018
That's a lot of stairs.
887
00:54:53,436 --> 00:54:55,521
Nobody ahead of us.
Nobody behind us.
888
00:54:56,522 --> 00:54:58,900
People who would've left,
would've left already.
889
00:55:00,026 --> 00:55:03,196
The person that really was
leading was Jyoti,
890
00:55:03,196 --> 00:55:05,531
because she was seven months
pregnant at the time.
891
00:55:05,615 --> 00:55:08,117
I became the, more like
a focal point,
892
00:55:08,159 --> 00:55:11,370
sort of like a distraction,
so everybody was focusing on me.
893
00:55:12,205 --> 00:55:14,957
We were only going
as fast as Jyoti could go,
894
00:55:14,999 --> 00:55:16,584
because nobody was gonna go ahead.
895
00:55:17,627 --> 00:55:20,254
My focus was on my baby.
896
00:55:21,047 --> 00:55:23,216
I didn't really feel her moving.
897
00:55:23,216 --> 00:55:28,638
And not feeling her,
it was a bit concerning.
898
00:55:31,723 --> 00:55:34,477
She had that mother's
899
00:55:35,353 --> 00:55:38,564
sense of "I'm gonna
get out of here, because
I'm gonna protect my child."
900
00:55:38,981 --> 00:55:42,068
And I just wanted to get out there,
get it checked out
901
00:55:42,068 --> 00:55:44,320
and make sure everything was okay.
902
00:56:02,838 --> 00:56:07,593
It must be around 9:40 and
we reached the 21st floor.
903
00:56:07,885 --> 00:56:11,847
So John and I were helping a woman
who was using a wheelchair.
904
00:56:13,432 --> 00:56:18,020
First responders have set up
a sort of triage area.
905
00:56:20,022 --> 00:56:22,108
The fireman was saying,
as we're passing,
"Just set her down.
906
00:56:22,191 --> 00:56:23,317
"We can take it from there."
907
00:56:24,776 --> 00:56:26,654
And get whatever medical treatment,
she needed
908
00:56:26,737 --> 00:56:29,240
and just get out of the congestion
of the stairwell.
909
00:56:29,282 --> 00:56:30,616
And I look at her and I said,
910
00:56:31,909 --> 00:56:33,619
You know, "Do you want me
to set you down here?"
911
00:56:37,123 --> 00:56:38,541
It's no trouble to us
912
00:56:38,583 --> 00:56:41,127
if you want to come,
because we're leaving now.
913
00:56:41,210 --> 00:56:45,256
And she's still, like,
being hesitant
914
00:56:45,298 --> 00:56:47,383
and not giving an answer.
915
00:56:49,594 --> 00:56:51,512
And I said, "Listen,
916
00:56:51,596 --> 00:56:54,348
"I'll take you all the way
out of here, you just tell me
what you wanna do."
917
00:56:58,436 --> 00:57:00,730
And she said, "I want
to stay with you guys."
918
00:57:03,232 --> 00:57:07,486
That really intensified our,
you know, our mission,
919
00:57:07,486 --> 00:57:08,988
our camaraderie and our bond.
920
00:57:10,489 --> 00:57:13,451
We were there for her,
to carry her out.
921
00:57:13,492 --> 00:57:15,620
But maybe she was there for us.
922
00:57:16,162 --> 00:57:18,247
Yeah. It's three of us
or nothing at all.
923
00:57:35,348 --> 00:57:38,851
So, it's now probably
about 10 to 10:00.
924
00:57:38,935 --> 00:57:42,647
As we hit maybe the 11th, 10th
floor, the floor's wet.
925
00:57:45,566 --> 00:57:47,318
Had to put the shoes back on.
926
00:57:47,360 --> 00:57:51,072
At first it's just wet,
and then it's really wet,
927
00:57:53,115 --> 00:57:55,409
And then it's rushing water.
928
00:57:59,956 --> 00:58:03,042
It became very slippery coming down
the stairs after that.
929
00:58:03,042 --> 00:58:07,004
We're walking in almost
ankle-deep water.
930
00:58:07,046 --> 00:58:10,800
It was a rusty reddy colour.
931
00:58:12,343 --> 00:58:15,721
And there was a moment
where I thought, "Oh, my gosh,
the ceiling's bleeding."
932
00:58:24,230 --> 00:58:26,482
I don't know how long
I held on to that.
933
00:58:28,025 --> 00:58:30,862
I think it was probably
just rusty pipes making the water
934
00:58:30,903 --> 00:58:34,490
a little bit tannish,
but it was a horrible
image to have.
935
00:58:38,411 --> 00:58:40,037
As we got closer to the bottom,
936
00:58:40,079 --> 00:58:41,580
we see these people in the uniform.
937
00:58:41,664 --> 00:58:43,416
And they're telling people,
"Get out, get out, get out."
938
00:58:43,499 --> 00:58:45,626
Was there sense of urgency
to get out? Yes.
939
00:58:45,960 --> 00:58:50,089
Was it a dire need
to get out because
940
00:58:50,172 --> 00:58:51,716
the building was gonna collapse?
No.
941
00:58:51,757 --> 00:58:55,386
Now the pace had picked up
and finally we're…
942
00:58:55,428 --> 00:58:56,929
Finally we're getting out.
943
00:59:11,402 --> 00:59:12,945
When we got down,
944
00:59:13,571 --> 00:59:16,282
you kind of merged up
with the other
945
00:59:16,615 --> 00:59:18,284
people that were coming out of
the other stairwell.
946
00:59:18,367 --> 00:59:20,369
They kinda came together.
947
00:59:22,580 --> 00:59:25,082
I, literally, was inside
the building for an hour.
948
00:59:25,541 --> 00:59:28,252
Which insulated me
from the outside world.
949
00:59:37,303 --> 00:59:39,972
You come out of the stairwell
950
00:59:40,473 --> 00:59:45,561
and there's a upper level
to the lobby of the trade centre.
951
00:59:46,979 --> 00:59:50,066
And you can see
out in the courtyard.
952
00:59:57,239 --> 00:59:58,991
And now
I'm looking in that courtyard.
953
00:59:58,991 --> 01:00:03,287
There're just pieces of
recognizable wing,
954
01:00:03,955 --> 01:00:07,083
airplane and landing gear.
955
01:00:07,124 --> 01:00:09,251
I mean, you see the huge tire.
956
01:00:16,175 --> 01:00:20,679
I saw just clumps of things
hitting the ground.
957
01:00:21,639 --> 01:00:26,227
And in my mind,
it's not registering
to me what that was.
958
01:00:33,192 --> 01:00:34,527
You see,
959
01:00:36,195 --> 01:00:39,698
you know, desks on fire,
you see paper falling
from the sky on fire,
960
01:00:39,782 --> 01:00:41,117
and you just hear this noise…
961
01:00:43,285 --> 01:00:44,913
Of people dropping.
962
01:00:53,295 --> 01:00:57,216
You could see some remains
963
01:00:57,258 --> 01:00:58,885
of people.
964
01:00:59,886 --> 01:01:01,470
In the debris.
965
01:01:02,013 --> 01:01:03,431
If you looked.
966
01:01:04,223 --> 01:01:05,976
I looked away pretty quick though.
967
01:01:18,487 --> 01:01:20,156
Outside was mayhem.
968
01:01:21,407 --> 01:01:24,368
I was struck by
the number of people
969
01:01:24,410 --> 01:01:26,370
watching all of this unfold.
970
01:01:26,412 --> 01:01:29,665
And some of them
I recognised from being
on the train with them.
971
01:01:30,499 --> 01:01:33,752
We turned around and we looked,
you know, and we saw
972
01:01:34,253 --> 01:01:35,754
the two buildings on fire.
973
01:01:39,425 --> 01:01:41,427
There's both of them on fire?
Why are both of them on fire?
974
01:01:41,510 --> 01:01:43,846
What happened?
What happened here?
975
01:01:54,106 --> 01:01:58,069
Remember, our mission
is not over until
Jyoti is taken care of.
976
01:01:58,777 --> 01:02:01,697
Police officer asked
if anybody needed help.
977
01:02:03,282 --> 01:02:05,618
I said, I don't feel my baby.
978
01:02:05,701 --> 01:02:11,332
He basically grabbed my hand,
and helped me cross the street.
979
01:02:13,292 --> 01:02:17,630
We saw Jyoti being taken
and put in the back
of the ambulance
980
01:02:17,713 --> 01:02:20,508
and the ambulance driving off.
981
01:02:20,591 --> 01:02:22,134
That.
982
01:02:22,134 --> 01:02:23,719
Mission accomplished.
983
01:02:35,314 --> 01:02:37,650
I go to put a cigarette
in my mouth.
984
01:02:37,650 --> 01:02:41,695
I'm bringing my lighter to
the cigarette.
I never got it lit.
985
01:02:42,906 --> 01:02:44,490
Because all of a sudden
the world shook again.
986
01:02:46,283 --> 01:02:49,745
You're hearing sounds
of metal twisting.
987
01:02:51,830 --> 01:02:55,167
And I remember hearing
a thunderous roar.
988
01:02:55,167 --> 01:02:56,252
And then…
989
01:02:57,628 --> 01:03:00,006
It started to just look like
it was just toppling.
990
01:03:00,090 --> 01:03:03,927
I actually thought that
the building was going
to fall on top of us.
991
01:03:05,761 --> 01:03:07,763
Everyone just said,
"Run."
992
01:03:07,805 --> 01:03:09,765
And so it's, pick a direction
993
01:03:09,807 --> 01:03:12,268
and hope you guess
the right direction.
994
01:03:22,862 --> 01:03:25,865
I remember knocking into a woman.
She fell on the floor.
995
01:03:25,949 --> 01:03:27,700
I got sort of sent flying.
996
01:03:27,700 --> 01:03:29,326
My cell phone went one way.
997
01:03:29,368 --> 01:03:31,245
I remember going for the cell phone
998
01:03:31,328 --> 01:03:32,956
and trying to grab her
at the same time.
999
01:03:33,330 --> 01:03:36,709
Somebody picked me up
and was sort of dragging me
1000
01:03:36,709 --> 01:03:38,086
with them as they were
going as well.
1001
01:03:40,713 --> 01:03:44,842
To my right it's
a beautiful September day,
1002
01:03:44,884 --> 01:03:50,140
and to my left is complete
darkness of pure hell
coming at you.
1003
01:03:53,726 --> 01:03:57,646
It looked like it was
a physical object, not like smoke.
1004
01:04:03,235 --> 01:04:05,237
It swallows you up,
1005
01:04:05,237 --> 01:04:07,239
like a wave in the ocean.
1006
01:04:17,167 --> 01:04:20,920
I remember seeing
when the South Tower collapsed.
1007
01:04:21,921 --> 01:04:25,424
That was, that was
rough to watch that.
1008
01:04:26,051 --> 01:04:30,096
What went through my mind
was wondering where my wife was.
1009
01:04:30,096 --> 01:04:31,388
Where was Ann?
1010
01:04:31,430 --> 01:04:33,682
Holy crap, where are you
in all that mess?
1011
01:04:35,267 --> 01:04:37,519
I prayed.
1012
01:04:38,437 --> 01:04:40,272
I prayed a long time that day.
1013
01:05:04,630 --> 01:05:06,799
The building was vibrating.
1014
01:05:07,884 --> 01:05:11,387
Such a huge building vibrating
doesn't bode well for safety.
1015
01:05:11,428 --> 01:05:13,181
I said to myself,
1016
01:05:13,264 --> 01:05:16,226
"We have to really
get out of here right now,
cos this is very bad."
1017
01:05:18,435 --> 01:05:20,063
I lost contact with Ann,
1018
01:05:20,105 --> 01:05:22,648
only because I went
to aid somebody else.
1019
01:05:22,731 --> 01:05:25,651
And Anne Koster, kind of,
went with two other gentlemen
1020
01:05:25,985 --> 01:05:28,071
and kept evacuating.
1021
01:05:28,654 --> 01:05:30,990
I still held on to her jacket and
her pocketbook.
1022
01:05:30,990 --> 01:05:33,492
I just never realised I had it.
1023
01:05:45,964 --> 01:05:49,508
That two or three seconds when that
initial dust ball hits you,
1024
01:05:49,591 --> 01:05:51,677
it feels like it's an hour.
1025
01:05:52,678 --> 01:05:55,306
There's no sun coming
anywhere, there's no lights
anywhere,
1026
01:05:55,347 --> 01:05:56,598
there's nothing except…
1027
01:05:58,475 --> 01:05:59,936
This dust around you.
1028
01:06:04,773 --> 01:06:07,651
It was just white,
white everywhere,
1029
01:06:07,693 --> 01:06:09,946
just white powder, ash.
1030
01:06:12,949 --> 01:06:16,493
I hear a lot of the
fireman's… The whistles
that go off
1031
01:06:16,535 --> 01:06:18,370
when a fireman is down?
1032
01:06:18,370 --> 01:06:19,663
You know, the high pitched beep?
1033
01:06:19,705 --> 01:06:20,831
You hear that in the background.
1034
01:06:25,419 --> 01:06:28,714
The firemen I guess
that were in the building
are now down.
1035
01:06:28,797 --> 01:06:29,883
And you hear it.
1036
01:06:29,966 --> 01:06:30,967
And it's…
1037
01:06:32,384 --> 01:06:33,469
It's loud.
1038
01:06:41,060 --> 01:06:44,563
It's a sound that,
I don't ever want to
remember that sound ever.
1039
01:06:44,646 --> 01:06:46,065
But I do.
1040
01:06:53,739 --> 01:06:56,658
The awareness of how many people
must have died was…
1041
01:06:57,534 --> 01:06:59,370
Was now a thing.
1042
01:06:59,411 --> 01:07:01,164
Like in the front of your mind.
1043
01:07:01,206 --> 01:07:02,165
My mind.
1044
01:07:06,585 --> 01:07:09,339
I was just thinking about
my floor and my people.
1045
01:07:12,342 --> 01:07:17,763
And just how it had just
been a little while before
that I'd seen them.
1046
01:07:19,015 --> 01:07:20,808
It was a heavy…
1047
01:07:23,228 --> 01:07:24,520
The feeling in my…
1048
01:07:24,770 --> 01:07:26,356
How do you say it?
1049
01:07:33,695 --> 01:07:35,865
I knew exactly where Stephen's
office was.
1050
01:07:37,449 --> 01:07:40,286
I knew there was no hope soon as
that building came down.
1051
01:07:40,286 --> 01:07:43,957
That even if he had
lived through the plane
1052
01:07:43,957 --> 01:07:45,457
coming into the building,
1053
01:07:47,085 --> 01:07:49,837
that there wasn't
enough time for him
to get down from 78.
1054
01:07:50,796 --> 01:07:52,131
And at that point,
1055
01:07:52,131 --> 01:07:55,885
I said to myself,
"I think we have
to plan a funeral."
1056
01:08:18,074 --> 01:08:21,785
The lower we got, the slower
1057
01:08:21,827 --> 01:08:24,455
the pace down the stairwell became.
1058
01:08:24,496 --> 01:08:29,210
Probably around the fifth floor,
we get stopped.
1059
01:08:32,255 --> 01:08:33,882
Like now
I'm not moving,
1060
01:08:35,133 --> 01:08:36,842
and people are screaming.
1061
01:08:41,472 --> 01:08:44,934
We were really
in a bad situation, I mean,
a super bad situation.
1062
01:08:47,312 --> 01:08:48,938
We encountered firemen
1063
01:08:48,980 --> 01:08:52,025
and we got out of the stairwell for
the first time
1064
01:08:52,608 --> 01:08:54,861
into this 5th floor.
1065
01:08:54,861 --> 01:08:56,695
It was pitch black.
1066
01:08:56,737 --> 01:08:59,407
There was obviously
some destruction in there.
1067
01:09:00,867 --> 01:09:04,996
Step over debris.
Stop. Put the woman down,
1068
01:09:05,038 --> 01:09:07,874
move things out
of the way. I did that a few times.
1069
01:09:09,876 --> 01:09:12,378
And we follow
the firemen to this one side.
1070
01:09:13,545 --> 01:09:16,090
The fireman's like, "No,
you can't go out this way."
1071
01:09:18,968 --> 01:09:21,762
We went back another way
and tried another few
other options.
1072
01:09:23,181 --> 01:09:25,975
Because we're going back
and forth on the same floor,
1073
01:09:26,017 --> 01:09:29,395
and I'm on the 5th floor,
it's dark and I can't
get out of here.
1074
01:09:29,395 --> 01:09:31,230
Panic really started setting in.
1075
01:09:31,314 --> 01:09:35,234
And now being aware that there are
about 100 stories
1076
01:09:35,234 --> 01:09:37,070
of this building above us.
1077
01:09:37,153 --> 01:09:39,280
My head is like, screaming like,
1078
01:09:40,239 --> 01:09:43,617
we're in a dark floor,
I'm five floors away
from getting out of here
1079
01:09:43,700 --> 01:09:44,869
and I'm stuck.
1080
01:09:45,328 --> 01:09:46,662
There's no way out?
1081
01:09:48,247 --> 01:09:52,085
There was this intense feeling
of being trapped.
1082
01:10:05,515 --> 01:10:08,809
Before I knew it,
I was 10, 15 blocks away,
1083
01:10:09,936 --> 01:10:12,230
covered in soot.
Drenched in sweat.
1084
01:10:12,271 --> 01:10:16,317
And I turned around and
just saw a space in the sky
1085
01:10:16,401 --> 01:10:18,610
that wasn't that there before.
1086
01:10:20,863 --> 01:10:22,156
Didn't make sense.
1087
01:10:24,117 --> 01:10:27,954
I just kept telling myself,
keep it together until
you tell someone you're alive.
1088
01:10:28,037 --> 01:10:31,165
Once you tell them
you're alive, you can
completely crack.
1089
01:10:33,750 --> 01:10:36,795
We were looking for
a phone, cos cell phones
weren't working at the time.
1090
01:10:36,879 --> 01:10:39,507
I remember looking at payphones
and people were…
1091
01:10:39,840 --> 01:10:42,759
25, 30 people
lined up at payphones.
1092
01:10:46,931 --> 01:10:50,642
I called my house and
kept praying that
the line would go through.
1093
01:10:54,897 --> 01:10:56,648
I just went, "Mom?"
1094
01:10:58,484 --> 01:11:01,237
And she just said to me,
she says, "Are you okay?"
And I'm like, "No."
1095
01:11:03,156 --> 01:11:04,157
Nope.
1096
01:11:09,996 --> 01:11:13,790
I heard my mum's voice,
but I couldn't speak.
1097
01:11:14,833 --> 01:11:17,920
And that's when I let
myself, sort of
1098
01:11:19,172 --> 01:11:20,465
break down
1099
01:11:20,506 --> 01:11:24,676
and sort of give in to the
horrors of the day.
1100
01:11:45,781 --> 01:11:47,533
We follow the fireman.
1101
01:11:47,617 --> 01:11:49,701
This can't happen fast enough.
And the longer it took,
1102
01:11:50,036 --> 01:11:52,288
the more anxiety set in.
1103
01:11:54,165 --> 01:11:56,876
We were stopped again.
Why are we stopped?
1104
01:11:57,376 --> 01:12:00,880
So close to getting out,
this might be just where we stay.
1105
01:12:05,510 --> 01:12:08,096
And then the guy goes,
"Okay, it's fine now, let's go."
1106
01:12:11,682 --> 01:12:15,436
There's no more lights,
there's water
coming down the stairs.
1107
01:12:17,230 --> 01:12:19,315
It was stopping us from moving
as quickly as we wanted.
1108
01:12:20,816 --> 01:12:23,319
It really heightened
the anxiety level.
1109
01:12:26,239 --> 01:12:29,075
We continued down,
we're down the steps.
1110
01:12:29,158 --> 01:12:33,412
So, now, the hallway
gets flooded with light
from outside as the door opens.
1111
01:12:37,500 --> 01:12:39,252
Saw one fireman in the lobby
1112
01:12:39,335 --> 01:12:41,671
who was directing us out
through a broken window.
1113
01:12:43,256 --> 01:12:45,049
And we're walking out now
1114
01:12:45,091 --> 01:12:49,845
into this unexplained,
like, dust and grey matter
1115
01:12:50,762 --> 01:12:51,931
all over the place.
1116
01:12:53,765 --> 01:12:55,059
We see an ambulance there,
1117
01:12:55,101 --> 01:12:56,269
facing south.
1118
01:12:57,603 --> 01:13:00,606
We put the woman in
one of the ambulances
1119
01:13:00,606 --> 01:13:01,941
and said our goodbyes.
1120
01:13:04,277 --> 01:13:05,695
She starts to cry.
1121
01:13:07,530 --> 01:13:10,782
And I'm like, "You know,
what are you crying for?
We're out."
1122
01:13:11,951 --> 01:13:14,203
And I just handed her
my business card.
1123
01:13:16,122 --> 01:13:19,250
And I didn't realise it
at the time,
1124
01:13:19,292 --> 01:13:21,544
but we never even
asked her her name.
1125
01:13:24,297 --> 01:13:27,091
It does seem weird that we
1126
01:13:27,133 --> 01:13:31,803
hadn't up to that point
exchanged names and introductions.
1127
01:13:32,138 --> 01:13:34,140
But that wasn't an ordinary day.
1128
01:13:44,567 --> 01:13:46,444
It didn't seem like those
ambulances were
1129
01:13:46,485 --> 01:13:48,196
in any rush to get out of there.
1130
01:13:49,821 --> 01:13:52,241
After I shut
the doors to the ambulance,
1131
01:13:52,283 --> 01:13:54,702
I turn around and face
The North Tower for the first time.
1132
01:13:58,289 --> 01:13:59,624
From my vantage point,
1133
01:13:59,999 --> 01:14:02,043
I couldn't see the South Tower
wasn't there!
1134
01:14:03,002 --> 01:14:04,503
And just at that point,
1135
01:14:04,587 --> 01:14:06,923
there's a man with a camera,
and I'm looking up
1136
01:14:07,506 --> 01:14:09,717
like, in shock,
1137
01:14:10,676 --> 01:14:12,595
and he's asking me questions.
1138
01:14:12,637 --> 01:14:14,680
Tell me what you saw and heard.
1139
01:14:14,764 --> 01:14:18,684
I still kept looking up,
like, "What's going on?"
1140
01:14:18,684 --> 01:14:20,353
Who do you work for?
1141
01:14:20,436 --> 01:14:22,980
Uh, Network Plus, a
communications company
out of, uh…
1142
01:14:24,440 --> 01:14:26,859
-How do you spell it?
-Mike Benfante.
1143
01:14:33,449 --> 01:14:37,328
We kept hearing
these intense impacts
1144
01:14:37,370 --> 01:14:41,290
that sounded like car crashes.
Several of them.
1145
01:14:45,795 --> 01:14:50,258
You know, you don't try
to think about every sound you hear
1146
01:14:51,300 --> 01:14:52,677
until you see it.
1147
01:14:53,302 --> 01:14:55,680
I'm walking to John and
that's when I see,
1148
01:14:55,721 --> 01:14:57,515
you know, people
falling from the sky.
1149
01:14:57,807 --> 01:15:00,643
And, uh, and I…
1150
01:15:01,727 --> 01:15:04,438
And you know, that's
where you're like…
1151
01:15:05,356 --> 01:15:07,400
Your whole world
just turns upside down,
1152
01:15:07,483 --> 01:15:09,694
and it's like nothing
makes sense anymore.
1153
01:15:10,152 --> 01:15:13,656
And I'm like, "This is chaos.
This is chaos."
1154
01:15:20,121 --> 01:15:23,582
I stopped and took
one last look at the building.
1155
01:15:23,582 --> 01:15:25,835
It looked like the smoke
1156
01:15:25,877 --> 01:15:29,005
started moving
downward and outward.
1157
01:15:31,590 --> 01:15:35,928
I just hear this
huge rumbling sound.
1158
01:15:39,098 --> 01:15:41,976
And I see the antenna
on the North Tower
1159
01:15:42,768 --> 01:15:45,187
just dropping in
the middle of the building.
1160
01:15:50,401 --> 01:15:52,611
And I heard this boom
1161
01:15:52,611 --> 01:15:55,364
that just rose up right behind me
and I look back…
1162
01:16:03,080 --> 01:16:04,875
I take off, and I remember
1163
01:16:04,916 --> 01:16:06,959
there's a cameraman right there and
I'm running by him.
1164
01:16:09,003 --> 01:16:11,882
And he's filming me and
I'm thinking, "This guy's
going to die."
1165
01:16:13,466 --> 01:16:16,552
And no matter how fast we ran,
we could not outrun it.
1166
01:16:18,304 --> 01:16:22,475
Did my final prayer
for really, my family.
1167
01:16:29,315 --> 01:16:31,484
My wife and I were
1168
01:16:32,318 --> 01:16:34,653
sat there pretty much in silence.
1169
01:16:38,991 --> 01:16:40,034
I think we…
1170
01:16:42,787 --> 01:16:44,538
both may have given up hope,
1171
01:16:45,874 --> 01:16:51,253
but we didn't want to tell
the other that we had.
1172
01:16:58,761 --> 01:17:00,679
After the North Tower
collapsed, I really
1173
01:17:00,763 --> 01:17:06,352
didn't wanna
entertain the idea that
Ann was not going to survive.
1174
01:17:06,937 --> 01:17:10,064
The reporters just keep on
giving you just…
1175
01:17:10,689 --> 01:17:13,109
You know, bits and
pieces, information…
1176
01:17:13,150 --> 01:17:16,028
The only way to identify
anybody if you don't have
1177
01:17:17,071 --> 01:17:20,074
a body would be by DNA testing.
1178
01:17:21,450 --> 01:17:24,787
So I went upstairs to
the bathroom, I got her toothbrush
1179
01:17:24,829 --> 01:17:26,163
and her hairbrush.
1180
01:17:26,205 --> 01:17:29,792
And put it in a bag,
in case, they found anything.
1181
01:17:35,798 --> 01:17:38,551
Watching
the second tower come down,
1182
01:17:39,218 --> 01:17:43,097
that was it.
I thought he died.
1183
01:17:44,765 --> 01:17:48,561
I tried calling and calling
and there was no service.
1184
01:17:48,561 --> 01:17:49,896
Towers were down.
1185
01:17:49,980 --> 01:17:52,148
You couldn't get anything.
1186
01:17:58,404 --> 01:18:01,574
I wanted him to tell me
that he was okay.
1187
01:18:02,909 --> 01:18:05,119
That they're not taking
him from me and the kids.
1188
01:18:05,912 --> 01:18:07,246
This is what I wanted.
1189
01:18:07,246 --> 01:18:12,793
I wanted to hear him
tell me, "Honey, I'm okay."
1190
01:18:27,224 --> 01:18:29,435
My sister-in-law
came over, hysterical,
1191
01:18:29,435 --> 01:18:32,104
"Oh, my God. What's going
on?" I'm like, please.
1192
01:18:32,104 --> 01:18:34,900
I didn't need anybody going crazy,
1193
01:18:34,941 --> 01:18:38,360
cos I was trying
to hold it together myself.
1194
01:18:39,361 --> 01:18:41,572
That's the day I turned white,
1195
01:18:41,614 --> 01:18:44,200
I was going grey,
I turned white that day.
1196
01:18:45,952 --> 01:18:48,829
Ann, you know,
is the love of my life.
1197
01:18:57,630 --> 01:18:59,632
Anne finally called me at 11:30.
1198
01:18:59,632 --> 01:19:02,093
It was like,
"Oh, thank God."
1199
01:19:02,134 --> 01:19:04,054
It was great to hear his voice,.
1200
01:19:04,095 --> 01:19:07,306
It really was, it really was,
it was wonderful.
1201
01:19:10,852 --> 01:19:12,979
9/11 has definitely
brought us closer.
1202
01:19:14,898 --> 01:19:15,982
Very much.
1203
01:19:16,024 --> 01:19:17,733
We have friends that tease us,
1204
01:19:17,775 --> 01:19:20,611
because we do everything together.
1205
01:19:20,653 --> 01:19:23,656
Just think of what it would be
if things were different.
1206
01:19:23,656 --> 01:19:26,575
And how much my life
would be changed,
1207
01:19:26,617 --> 01:19:28,661
and not for the better.
1208
01:19:28,744 --> 01:19:30,080
Love you.
1209
01:19:30,121 --> 01:19:31,122
Love you, too.
1210
01:19:41,757 --> 01:19:44,176
I'm still trying to reach him
and there's nothing.
1211
01:19:45,011 --> 01:19:46,972
I feel like I'm going to pass out.
1212
01:19:48,847 --> 01:19:51,142
But he walked in the door
I was like, "Oh, my God, honey!
1213
01:19:51,183 --> 01:19:53,269
"Everybody's calling and crying."
1214
01:19:53,310 --> 01:19:58,858
And he said, "Are they…
Did they start crying after
they found out I was okay?"
1215
01:19:58,900 --> 01:20:00,526
Because this is what he does.
1216
01:20:02,528 --> 01:20:03,821
Aww, okay? Here you go,
here you go.
1217
01:20:09,160 --> 01:20:10,703
9/11 Changed us because
1218
01:20:10,786 --> 01:20:13,706
we didn't take this relationship
that we had for granted.
1219
01:20:14,165 --> 01:20:16,001
We had good times, bad times,
1220
01:20:16,042 --> 01:20:17,793
still, right,
1221
01:20:17,835 --> 01:20:21,839
but we were fortunate
to have the time together.
1222
01:20:21,881 --> 01:20:23,549
You can't take
anything for granted.
1223
01:20:24,050 --> 01:20:26,177
You have to live each day
1224
01:20:27,595 --> 01:20:28,972
and make the best of it.
1225
01:20:35,394 --> 01:20:38,397
When I found out
that all of us survived
from the 81st floor,
1226
01:20:38,480 --> 01:20:39,732
it was miraculous.
1227
01:20:39,732 --> 01:20:41,943
The only person that
wasn't unaccounted for,
1228
01:20:42,027 --> 01:20:43,527
the woman we carried down.
1229
01:20:45,864 --> 01:20:48,074
It was very likely that
1230
01:20:48,741 --> 01:20:52,286
the ambulance that
we had put the woman
in never made it out.
1231
01:20:54,496 --> 01:20:56,457
Well, John and I thought
she was dead.
1232
01:20:57,000 --> 01:20:58,209
Several days later…
1233
01:21:00,170 --> 01:21:01,712
I got a call from a journalist who
1234
01:21:02,504 --> 01:21:05,633
said that she wanted to do a story.
1235
01:21:06,717 --> 01:21:08,260
She said that it was…
1236
01:21:08,510 --> 01:21:12,974
It's admirable what
you did in carrying
Tina Hanson down.
1237
01:21:13,058 --> 01:21:14,934
I was like, "What, who?"
1238
01:21:14,934 --> 01:21:16,061
Her name was Tina.
1239
01:21:17,228 --> 01:21:18,354
And she made it.
1240
01:21:19,730 --> 01:21:22,108
Well, this picture
here is me, Tina and John,
1241
01:21:22,192 --> 01:21:24,401
at my wedding one year later.
1242
01:21:24,944 --> 01:21:27,446
We were all pretty glad
to be together again.
1243
01:21:33,577 --> 01:21:35,955
I'm very proud of what John
did on that day.
1244
01:21:36,455 --> 01:21:38,457
I don't know I ever said
how proud I am.
1245
01:21:38,540 --> 01:21:42,586
I brag on him every chance
I get with friends and, you know.
1246
01:21:42,628 --> 01:21:45,048
I'm very proud of you.
I sure am! You know?
1247
01:21:45,090 --> 01:21:46,091
Thank you.
1248
01:21:56,475 --> 01:21:57,936
What do we do?
1249
01:21:57,977 --> 01:21:59,603
You know, we were
just going on to work
1250
01:21:59,645 --> 01:22:01,355
like every other normal
American person
going to work that day.
1251
01:22:03,482 --> 01:22:07,778
The Baseline family suffered
four tragedies that day.
1252
01:22:10,322 --> 01:22:12,242
We think about Steven all the time.
1253
01:22:12,283 --> 01:22:13,826
We have pictures of Steven around.
1254
01:22:14,618 --> 01:22:16,287
We were a happy family.
1255
01:22:16,328 --> 01:22:19,040
Happy hurricane.
1256
01:22:19,832 --> 01:22:21,500
We all know that we're sad.
1257
01:22:21,960 --> 01:22:24,503
But we smile and we laugh
1258
01:22:24,503 --> 01:22:28,133
when we talk about him
and the things he did,
or the things he said.
1259
01:22:29,675 --> 01:22:33,138
He's only one of
a few thousand that
we lost that day.
1260
01:22:35,181 --> 01:22:37,516
But, I'll tell you, he was
probably one of the nicest ones.
1261
01:22:46,025 --> 01:22:48,194
Losing colleagues, um…
1262
01:22:48,819 --> 01:22:52,531
Feel a little guilty
that they lost their…
1263
01:22:52,614 --> 01:22:55,701
Why them?
Like, how did that happen?
1264
01:22:55,701 --> 01:22:58,662
How am I sitting here?
Why am I sitting here?
1265
01:22:59,205 --> 01:23:00,874
There's so many people
that didn't get out.
1266
01:23:01,457 --> 01:23:02,876
And you ask yourself…
1267
01:23:04,043 --> 01:23:05,377
For 17 years…
1268
01:23:07,213 --> 01:23:08,797
What could I have done differently?
1269
01:23:10,008 --> 01:23:12,135
There's that guilt
every day, you have,
1270
01:23:13,011 --> 01:23:14,345
and…
1271
01:23:15,679 --> 01:23:17,307
It won't go away until I'm dead.
1272
01:23:20,351 --> 01:23:22,728
We started the day as colleagues,
1273
01:23:25,190 --> 01:23:27,775
ended the day as lifelong
brothers and sisters.
1274
01:23:29,651 --> 01:23:33,198
We needed
to be able to call our friend
from the office
1275
01:23:33,239 --> 01:23:37,409
and say, are you still
having nightmares
three years later?
1276
01:23:37,952 --> 01:23:39,828
"Yeah, still have
nightmares." Okay.
1277
01:23:41,247 --> 01:23:42,999
I don't feel as crazy anymore.
1278
01:23:45,542 --> 01:23:47,419
They tried to take our spirit
1279
01:23:47,753 --> 01:23:50,839
And the American people
and whoever was in that,
1280
01:23:50,882 --> 01:23:52,591
those buildings that day
1281
01:23:54,426 --> 01:23:56,387
kind of says, "You know what?
Not with us, it's not
going to happen."
1282
01:23:58,056 --> 01:24:01,683
The way people came together
that day is,
1283
01:24:01,725 --> 01:24:03,144
is something to be appreciated.
1284
01:24:04,062 --> 01:24:05,437
It is a sad day.
1285
01:24:05,479 --> 01:24:08,233
But it's also a day to remember how
1286
01:24:08,524 --> 01:24:13,445
we came together
for the good of others.
1287
01:24:16,740 --> 01:24:19,535
We stood
together, because of Joyti,
1288
01:24:19,576 --> 01:24:22,788
I believe, in my mind,
I truly believe
1289
01:24:22,872 --> 01:24:25,375
because of her we survived.
1290
01:24:25,416 --> 01:24:26,960
Because we stuck together.
1291
01:24:26,960 --> 01:24:30,462
Shailaja was born
on November 24, 2001.
1292
01:24:30,462 --> 01:24:33,799
It means daughter of the mountain.
1293
01:24:34,800 --> 01:24:39,055
And literally I came down
the mountain, called
World Trade Center,
1294
01:24:39,638 --> 01:24:43,142
and survived, and she's here.
1295
01:24:44,476 --> 01:24:45,895
Because of you…
1296
01:24:49,315 --> 01:24:51,317
people made it out alive.
1297
01:24:52,443 --> 01:24:56,322
And I'm really grateful
that they looked after us,
1298
01:24:56,322 --> 01:24:58,449
not just me, you and me both.
1299
01:25:00,742 --> 01:25:02,412
I love my name, like,
1300
01:25:02,453 --> 01:25:05,497
there's nothing about
my name that I would
ever want to change.
1301
01:25:05,497 --> 01:25:06,707
I earned my name.
1302
01:25:13,339 --> 01:25:16,550
The most positive thing about
that day was that
1303
01:25:17,343 --> 01:25:18,677
I wasn't alone.
1304
01:25:18,677 --> 01:25:22,307
I was with a wonderful
group of people.
1305
01:25:23,057 --> 01:25:26,019
Because if I had been
by myself that day,
1306
01:25:26,019 --> 01:25:27,979
I probably would've died.
1307
01:25:30,023 --> 01:25:33,860
The person that went
into that building is
not the person that came out.
1308
01:25:34,861 --> 01:25:37,447
But I didn't stop living.
1309
01:25:38,114 --> 01:25:40,532
I'm glad I'm here
to tell people about it.
1310
01:25:42,534 --> 01:25:46,289
The only thing I can
say at this point
is I'm glad I can…
1311
01:25:48,124 --> 01:25:51,543
I'm a "Walking piece of history,"
as my nephew says.