nmah5079.xml
Title
nmah5079.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-17
NMAH Story: Story
September 11th, 2001: by LuAnn O'Rourke,
Monday, September 10th was the first class of the Fall semester for the O'Rourke Academy of Irish Dance and on Tuesday, September 11th all of our lives changed forever. I woke up that Tuesday morning tired from the first class back, but glad to be back to my usual routine. I took the usual 7:17 a.m. train with Steve and we kissed good-bye at Grand Central and then I made my way through the usual crowd of the subway to the express train down to Fulton St. I passed St. Paul's and the cemetery like I do every morning, stopped at Fine & Shiparo for my usual cup of coffee and made my way to my office at Empire BlueCross BlueShield on the 30th floor of World Trade One (the North Tower). Like clockwork I was at my desk by 8:10 a.m. and sifting through the new e-mails and voicemails that came in since the day before. Suddenly I heard a loud boom and I was thrown from my chair. A loud scream came out of me automatically. The building swayed back and forth so much that I thought it was going to fall over with us in it. After the swaying stopped the building began to tremble violently. I thought to myself "My God, it's an earthquake", "I'm going to die here". I suddenly thought of Steve, we had just become engaged a few weeks earlier. I also thought in a moments second of all the things I still hadnt accomplished, goals that I set for myself in life. I couldnt believe my life was going to end like this. It was kind of ironic that I was working in the World Trade Center. I was afraid of elevators, tall buildings and airplanes. This fear had more to do with a feeling of being trapped in case of an emergency as opposed to heights and here was my worst fear coming true. My career at Empire was on a steady course and when I was hired five years earlier I was aware of the move to the World Trade Center. I decided to suck it up for the sake of my career and made the move with the company. I also figured that since we were relatively on the lower floors (24 31) that it might not be so bad. Boy, was I wrong.
After several minutes the trembling stopped, I looked out the window of my office to see tons of paper flying in the air. Something hit the building or exploded, maybe a helicopter hit the building? I ran out of my office where everyone gathered, "What was that"? I must have grabbed my cell phone because I tried to call Steve with no avail. I remember someone saying to me "stop shaking", and then someone else said, "Let's get out of here". Crazy as it is, I ran back to my office to get my bag. When I came back two seconds later everyone was gone. I ran toward the West end of the building and everyone was gone there too. Now I was alone on the floor and terrified. In addition, there were no emergency announcements or fire alarms. I ran to the hallway and opened the door to be greeted by a wall of smoke. Thank goodness the door to the stairwell was right near the doors to the offices because the smoke was so thick you couldnt see a foot in front of you. Worried that some others may still be on the floor and unable to find the stairs, I yelled for them "Is anyone there, the stairs are over here!" One co-worker came out from the smoke, Shalom Benzaquen, and we entered the stairwell. I was never so happy to see him.
Hundreds of people were making their way down the stairs in an orderly fashion. Still clenching on to my cell phone it rang. It was my sister, Eileen, "Where are you?" "What's going on?" she asked with a sound of terror in her voice and she started crying. The building had stopped shaking and not realizing the magnitude of what had happened yet I reassured her that although some smoke had gotten in my eyes and we were breathing in some smoke, I was on my way down the stairwell and would call her when I got out. On our way down people started getting news of what happened over their pagers. A plane had hit the tower, some kind of freak accident maybe? The building had seemed to stabilize and I now had a sense that I was going to get out. Little did I know at this point what was about to unfold in the next 45 minutes. The stairwell was crowded with hundreds of people all of whom seemed very calm considering the circumstances. I passed a large man in a wheel chair on the 27th floor. There were others with him, but it ripped my heart out to pass him. I still feel guilty about it. I didnt know it at the time, but the man in the wheel chair was Ed Beyea from Empires IT department.
We continued down the stairs slowly and orderly getting closer to the bottom. When we got to about the 4th floor water was pouring down the stairs and ankle deep. I had worn a pair of high-heel mules that day so I took off the shoes and walked through the water in my bare feet. Finally, we made it to the mezzanine level and we were directed to run. As I made my way outside I looked into the courtyard of the World Trade Center for a brief second where just a couple of weeks earlier I had seen Cherish the Ladies and the Donny Golden dancers give a concert. It now looked like a scene from the movie Earthquake with fire and debris scattered everywhere. Still barefoot I then realized that I was running on shattered glass. As I stopped to put on my shoes a stranger stopped to scoop me up and started running with me in his arms. "You can't stop he said, there is stuff falling from the sky". Once in a safe area he put me down and disappeared like an angel. I'll never know who he was, but he could have saved my life that day. I later found out that many people were injured or killed by falling debris. It was about 9:30 a.m. when I finally got out, only one half hour before building two would collapse.
At this point I was on the West side of the Trade Center and headed toward the pier by the World Financial Center. I think I walked through the Winter Garden atrium and down the marble stairs. I was in shock, dazed and alone. My sister says she got through on my cell phone again and spoke to me, but I dont remember that. There were thousands of people just looking up at the building in amazement. Never having a liking for crowds (it goes with the fear of being trapped) I kept walking North to try and get away and scanning the crowds for co-workers at the same time. I felt terribly alone even though I was surrounded by thousands of people. Finally, one woman I worked with, Iris Rodham, found me and she pulled me along as I kept looking back at the building I worked in. It had a tremendous gaping hole toward the top and thick black smoke was pouring out of it. Building Two was also on fire and we learned that another plane had crashed into Building Two. People were on the streets gathered around cars with their radios blasting the news. Reports were coming in that it was a terrorist attack. The whole scene was very surreal and unbelievable. My eyes were irritated from the smoke and I looked back at the building wondering to myself if I could go back to work there tomorrow. What was I thinking? Iris and I thought we might be able to get a subway uptown so we continued to walk up the West side. We made it to about 14th Street which was about a half hour after I got out of the building and I looked back and gasped "Iris, I think Building Two is collapsing!" People on the streets screamed in horror and cried. Could this be happening, is this real I thought to myself? All of downtown was enveloped in a huge cloud of smoke and dust. I could only think of the people who were still down by the pier and buildings staring up in wonderment. Now they were probably running for their lives.
Iris and I trudged forward, sirens screaming past us as fire truck after fire truck made its way downtown. Soon after that Tower One, my building, collapsed. Now knowing that our lives would never be same and that insanity was breaking loose on the city, my main mission was to get to midtown to Steve's building on 47th and Park.
We made it to Chelsea Piers at about 10:15 a.m. and they had already set up tables and were distributing water to those of us walking by. We stopped for water, to use the restrooms and much needed payphones since all cellular service seemed to come to a halt. I spoke with my sister and Steve and told them I was on my way to midtown. I could tell that Steve wanted to do something to get me, but he couldnt, everything was closed down. The best thing he could do for me at that point was stay put and let me get to him. I was walking all the way if it killed me. Iris and I made it to his building by 11:30 a.m., only two hours after I got out of the World Trade Center. Steve and I embraced each other knowing all to well that the situation could have played out differently. We were the lucky ones that day. We even made it home that night by 4 p.m. My parents rushed to see me and we clutched each other emotionally. We were glued to the television that night as many Americans and people around the world were. That evening I was still in shock. Watching the whole scene repeated over and over again I then began to realize the enormity of the event that I had just survived. I made it out physically fine, some smoke in my eyes and blisters on my feet from the long walk to mid-town, but the next few days were like riding an emotional roller coaster. I would be fine one moment, crying the next. Sleeping was hard and loud noises startle me. Every time I hear a siren it brings me back to that day. Within the first few days I received dozens of calls from friends, family, co-workers and old acquaintances.
Many of us who were there have asked since then, "Why did this happen?, Why did I survive and not the others? Although we do not have the answer to these questions I can only turn to my faith in God for comfort during this time. Two years ago when I visited China I met a very special person on my trip, Julie Gillam. I was recovering from a hard time in my life and Julie gave me a quote from Jeremiah 29:11 that reads "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future." I have held on to those words and read them in times like these. I am thankful every day that I will have the chance to achieve some of those goals I had laid out for myself. I later found out that the man in the wheelchair did not make it out along with his best friend. Their names were Ed Beyea and Abraham Zamonwitz. Seven other employees from Empire and two consultants were lost that day along with thousands of other innocent people. Who at this time was braver than the heroes of the New York City Fire Department and Police Department?
Epilogue: Approaching the one-year anniversary of September 11, 2002.
As the anniversary of September 11th approaches each day gets harder. The media will make us relive the entire event. The past year has been one of ups and downs. I come from a family of firefighters and policemen and although we havent lost an immediate family member, there are many friends of a friend who have vanished. For several months I kept having repeated nightmares that any building I was in would topple over with me in it. That dream has since subsided. Loud noises still startle me and sirens are the worst. It all comes rushing back. These days the slightest thing can trigger my emotions. Tears come to my eyes reading the daily paper and stories linked to 9/11. There are makeshift memorials throughout the towns of surrounding areas and in NY city a wall still stands in Grand Central terminal of the missing posters.
In addition, I have also had the most amazing year following that horrible tragedy. Steve and I purchased a new home in April and we were married on July 20th. My dance team became the first place North American Champions over July 4th weekend, something we have been trying to achieve for 4 years. I trust in God and the plans he has for me and I pray every day for peace for the families who have lost their loved ones on September 11th.
We will never forget.
Monday, September 10th was the first class of the Fall semester for the O'Rourke Academy of Irish Dance and on Tuesday, September 11th all of our lives changed forever. I woke up that Tuesday morning tired from the first class back, but glad to be back to my usual routine. I took the usual 7:17 a.m. train with Steve and we kissed good-bye at Grand Central and then I made my way through the usual crowd of the subway to the express train down to Fulton St. I passed St. Paul's and the cemetery like I do every morning, stopped at Fine & Shiparo for my usual cup of coffee and made my way to my office at Empire BlueCross BlueShield on the 30th floor of World Trade One (the North Tower). Like clockwork I was at my desk by 8:10 a.m. and sifting through the new e-mails and voicemails that came in since the day before. Suddenly I heard a loud boom and I was thrown from my chair. A loud scream came out of me automatically. The building swayed back and forth so much that I thought it was going to fall over with us in it. After the swaying stopped the building began to tremble violently. I thought to myself "My God, it's an earthquake", "I'm going to die here". I suddenly thought of Steve, we had just become engaged a few weeks earlier. I also thought in a moments second of all the things I still hadnt accomplished, goals that I set for myself in life. I couldnt believe my life was going to end like this. It was kind of ironic that I was working in the World Trade Center. I was afraid of elevators, tall buildings and airplanes. This fear had more to do with a feeling of being trapped in case of an emergency as opposed to heights and here was my worst fear coming true. My career at Empire was on a steady course and when I was hired five years earlier I was aware of the move to the World Trade Center. I decided to suck it up for the sake of my career and made the move with the company. I also figured that since we were relatively on the lower floors (24 31) that it might not be so bad. Boy, was I wrong.
After several minutes the trembling stopped, I looked out the window of my office to see tons of paper flying in the air. Something hit the building or exploded, maybe a helicopter hit the building? I ran out of my office where everyone gathered, "What was that"? I must have grabbed my cell phone because I tried to call Steve with no avail. I remember someone saying to me "stop shaking", and then someone else said, "Let's get out of here". Crazy as it is, I ran back to my office to get my bag. When I came back two seconds later everyone was gone. I ran toward the West end of the building and everyone was gone there too. Now I was alone on the floor and terrified. In addition, there were no emergency announcements or fire alarms. I ran to the hallway and opened the door to be greeted by a wall of smoke. Thank goodness the door to the stairwell was right near the doors to the offices because the smoke was so thick you couldnt see a foot in front of you. Worried that some others may still be on the floor and unable to find the stairs, I yelled for them "Is anyone there, the stairs are over here!" One co-worker came out from the smoke, Shalom Benzaquen, and we entered the stairwell. I was never so happy to see him.
Hundreds of people were making their way down the stairs in an orderly fashion. Still clenching on to my cell phone it rang. It was my sister, Eileen, "Where are you?" "What's going on?" she asked with a sound of terror in her voice and she started crying. The building had stopped shaking and not realizing the magnitude of what had happened yet I reassured her that although some smoke had gotten in my eyes and we were breathing in some smoke, I was on my way down the stairwell and would call her when I got out. On our way down people started getting news of what happened over their pagers. A plane had hit the tower, some kind of freak accident maybe? The building had seemed to stabilize and I now had a sense that I was going to get out. Little did I know at this point what was about to unfold in the next 45 minutes. The stairwell was crowded with hundreds of people all of whom seemed very calm considering the circumstances. I passed a large man in a wheel chair on the 27th floor. There were others with him, but it ripped my heart out to pass him. I still feel guilty about it. I didnt know it at the time, but the man in the wheel chair was Ed Beyea from Empires IT department.
We continued down the stairs slowly and orderly getting closer to the bottom. When we got to about the 4th floor water was pouring down the stairs and ankle deep. I had worn a pair of high-heel mules that day so I took off the shoes and walked through the water in my bare feet. Finally, we made it to the mezzanine level and we were directed to run. As I made my way outside I looked into the courtyard of the World Trade Center for a brief second where just a couple of weeks earlier I had seen Cherish the Ladies and the Donny Golden dancers give a concert. It now looked like a scene from the movie Earthquake with fire and debris scattered everywhere. Still barefoot I then realized that I was running on shattered glass. As I stopped to put on my shoes a stranger stopped to scoop me up and started running with me in his arms. "You can't stop he said, there is stuff falling from the sky". Once in a safe area he put me down and disappeared like an angel. I'll never know who he was, but he could have saved my life that day. I later found out that many people were injured or killed by falling debris. It was about 9:30 a.m. when I finally got out, only one half hour before building two would collapse.
At this point I was on the West side of the Trade Center and headed toward the pier by the World Financial Center. I think I walked through the Winter Garden atrium and down the marble stairs. I was in shock, dazed and alone. My sister says she got through on my cell phone again and spoke to me, but I dont remember that. There were thousands of people just looking up at the building in amazement. Never having a liking for crowds (it goes with the fear of being trapped) I kept walking North to try and get away and scanning the crowds for co-workers at the same time. I felt terribly alone even though I was surrounded by thousands of people. Finally, one woman I worked with, Iris Rodham, found me and she pulled me along as I kept looking back at the building I worked in. It had a tremendous gaping hole toward the top and thick black smoke was pouring out of it. Building Two was also on fire and we learned that another plane had crashed into Building Two. People were on the streets gathered around cars with their radios blasting the news. Reports were coming in that it was a terrorist attack. The whole scene was very surreal and unbelievable. My eyes were irritated from the smoke and I looked back at the building wondering to myself if I could go back to work there tomorrow. What was I thinking? Iris and I thought we might be able to get a subway uptown so we continued to walk up the West side. We made it to about 14th Street which was about a half hour after I got out of the building and I looked back and gasped "Iris, I think Building Two is collapsing!" People on the streets screamed in horror and cried. Could this be happening, is this real I thought to myself? All of downtown was enveloped in a huge cloud of smoke and dust. I could only think of the people who were still down by the pier and buildings staring up in wonderment. Now they were probably running for their lives.
Iris and I trudged forward, sirens screaming past us as fire truck after fire truck made its way downtown. Soon after that Tower One, my building, collapsed. Now knowing that our lives would never be same and that insanity was breaking loose on the city, my main mission was to get to midtown to Steve's building on 47th and Park.
We made it to Chelsea Piers at about 10:15 a.m. and they had already set up tables and were distributing water to those of us walking by. We stopped for water, to use the restrooms and much needed payphones since all cellular service seemed to come to a halt. I spoke with my sister and Steve and told them I was on my way to midtown. I could tell that Steve wanted to do something to get me, but he couldnt, everything was closed down. The best thing he could do for me at that point was stay put and let me get to him. I was walking all the way if it killed me. Iris and I made it to his building by 11:30 a.m., only two hours after I got out of the World Trade Center. Steve and I embraced each other knowing all to well that the situation could have played out differently. We were the lucky ones that day. We even made it home that night by 4 p.m. My parents rushed to see me and we clutched each other emotionally. We were glued to the television that night as many Americans and people around the world were. That evening I was still in shock. Watching the whole scene repeated over and over again I then began to realize the enormity of the event that I had just survived. I made it out physically fine, some smoke in my eyes and blisters on my feet from the long walk to mid-town, but the next few days were like riding an emotional roller coaster. I would be fine one moment, crying the next. Sleeping was hard and loud noises startle me. Every time I hear a siren it brings me back to that day. Within the first few days I received dozens of calls from friends, family, co-workers and old acquaintances.
Many of us who were there have asked since then, "Why did this happen?, Why did I survive and not the others? Although we do not have the answer to these questions I can only turn to my faith in God for comfort during this time. Two years ago when I visited China I met a very special person on my trip, Julie Gillam. I was recovering from a hard time in my life and Julie gave me a quote from Jeremiah 29:11 that reads "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future." I have held on to those words and read them in times like these. I am thankful every day that I will have the chance to achieve some of those goals I had laid out for myself. I later found out that the man in the wheelchair did not make it out along with his best friend. Their names were Ed Beyea and Abraham Zamonwitz. Seven other employees from Empire and two consultants were lost that day along with thousands of other innocent people. Who at this time was braver than the heroes of the New York City Fire Department and Police Department?
Epilogue: Approaching the one-year anniversary of September 11, 2002.
As the anniversary of September 11th approaches each day gets harder. The media will make us relive the entire event. The past year has been one of ups and downs. I come from a family of firefighters and policemen and although we havent lost an immediate family member, there are many friends of a friend who have vanished. For several months I kept having repeated nightmares that any building I was in would topple over with me in it. That dream has since subsided. Loud noises still startle me and sirens are the worst. It all comes rushing back. These days the slightest thing can trigger my emotions. Tears come to my eyes reading the daily paper and stories linked to 9/11. There are makeshift memorials throughout the towns of surrounding areas and in NY city a wall still stands in Grand Central terminal of the missing posters.
In addition, I have also had the most amazing year following that horrible tragedy. Steve and I purchased a new home in April and we were married on July 20th. My dance team became the first place North American Champions over July 4th weekend, something we have been trying to achieve for 4 years. I trust in God and the plans he has for me and I pray every day for peace for the families who have lost their loved ones on September 11th.
We will never forget.
NMAH Story: Life Changed
NMAH Story: Remembered
NMAH Story: Flag
Citation
“nmah5079.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/42414.