9/11 survivor stories: The people who escaped the Twin Towers
Four 9/11 survivors share how they escaped the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001 – and what they faced in the years that followed.
Image: Felipe Oyola was working on the 81st floor of the South Tower when the attacks happened | 102 Minutes Inside The Towers
On the morning of 11th September 2001, thousands of people inside the World Trade Center faced an unimaginable situation. Fires raged, stairwells filled with smoke, and in the chaos that followed, every decision could mean the difference between life and death.
Most of the stories from that day belong to those who didn't make it out. But some did – and their accounts reveal a human story of extraordinary courage, improvisation and chance.
Ahead of the 25th anniversary of the attacks, Sky HISTORY will air a brand-new documentary, 102 Minutes Inside The Towers. Here, we share the stories of four 9/11 survivors who made it out – and what it cost them.
Jan Demczur
When Flight 11 hit the North Tower, the World Trade Center was thrown into chaos. For John Paczkowski and George Phoenix, there was another problem. They were trapped inside an elevator.
With the building damaged and smoke spreading, escape seemed almost impossible. Then they encountered Port Authority employee Jan Demczur. Demczur had a simple tool with him: a squeegee.
He used it to break through the elevator shaft wall, creating an escape route for the men. The three eventually made their way out of the building. This is proof that an everyday object and a quick decision could mean the difference between life and death.
Louise Traynor
Louise Traynor had only recently moved from County Armagh, Northern Ireland to New York when the attacks happened.
The 24-year-old had won a Green Card through the US visa lottery and had moved to America earlier in 2001. She had fallen in love with New York on an earlier holiday and was excited to start a new life there. On the morning of the attacks, Louise was working in the World Trade Center's South Tower.
When the first plane struck the North Tower, Louise and her colleagues had no idea what was happening. Then, just after 9 am United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into their own building.
The impact sent people running for the stairs. Louise later recalled the terrifying sound and confusion inside the tower. She described screaming and thinking, ‘I'm facing my own mortality. I'm dead.’ But luckily Louise kept moving.
She made her way down through the damaged building and eventually escaped the tower before it collapsed. For someone who had crossed the Atlantic to begin a new life, the experience became something she would never forget.
Felipe Oyola
Felipe Oyola and his wife Adianes kissed each other goodbye on the morning of the 11th. Felipe worked on the 81st floor, while Adianes worked on the 78th floor. He was working for Fuji Bank in the South Tower when the attacks began.
He had been in the building that morning and was among the small number of people who survived despite being close to the area where Flight 175 struck. Felipe was one of several Fuji Bank employees on the upper floors who managed to escape. He headed down to 78 to check on his wife after an announcement advised workers the towers were safe. Sadly, this was the last time he saw his wife.
‘As soon as I went upstairs, I looked out the window, and I see falling debris and people. Then the office was on top of me. I managed to escape, and I’ve been looking for my wife ever since.’ Felipe told news outlets after the attacks.
Harry Waizer
Harry Waizer's escape was even more extraordinary. A vice president and tax counsel for Cantor Fitzgerald, Waizer was travelling up the North Tower towards his office on the 104th floor when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the building.
He was somewhere between the 78th and 101st floors when the impact happened. The explosion hit the elevator. Waizer later described feeling ‘the lift shake before it began to plummet.’ Then flames erupted around him.
His clothes caught fire. He tried to beat out the flames, burning his hands and arms in the process. The elevator eventually came to a stop around the 78th floor, giving him a chance to escape
Waizer had suffered devastating burns and severe damage to his lungs. He spent five months in hospital and underwent multiple surgeries, followed by more than a year and a half of painful rehabilitation. His injuries left him with lasting nerve damage and chronic pain.
‘I am one of the handful of lucky ones,’ he said, describing the difficult responsibility he felt to speak for those who could no longer tell their own stories.
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