I remember the morning like it was yesterday. I was living in Santa Barbara then. Got up about 6:00, turned on the tv for the news while I drank coffee. What I saw and heard didn't really register. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. After the second tower came down, the fear increased that 50,000+ lives could be lost, which added to the surrealism. We didn't know then that the courageous firefighters and police of NYC had already evacuated some 37,000 people.
A blind man who worked in the North Tower spoke at our church awhile back, and told the story of his escape down 78 floors that morning:
Blind man inspires with 9/11 tale
Web-posted Mar 18, 2004
By DAVE GROVES
Of The Daily Oakland Press
Michael Hingson of Novato, Calif., addresses the crowd as his guide dog, Roselle, relaxes at the Highland Lakes Campus of Oakland Community College in Waterford Township. Hingson, who is blind, survived the 9/11 attacks with the aid of Roselle. -The Daily Oakland Press / JOSE JUAREZ
At 8:45 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001, Michael Hingson was on the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center.
When a hijacked jetliner crashed into the building, he and a colleague named David heard a muffled thud and a subsequent explosion. They felt the tower begin to lean and David described the smoke, rubble and burning debris he saw falling outside.
In the moments that followed, Hingson realized he would have to rely on David, his seeing-eye dog, Roselle, and his own composure to descend 1,463 steps to escape the building.
Early on in what would become an hourlong effort to find daylight, Hingson and his companions allowed people assisting burn victims to pass them in the stairwell.
The group eventually approached the lower floors and made room for firefighters in full gear to pass.
"So we continued going down the stairs while they continued going up them - each one, nearly to the person, stopping to check if we were OK and to get a kiss from Roselle," Hingson told a gathering at the Highland Lakes Campus of Oakland Community College on Wednesday.
"That was the last unconditional love those people ever got."
Among the few dozen people in the audience, many wiped tears from their eyes.
The emotion-filled silence was among several Hingson delivered during a recounting of his surviving the eventful day.
Blind since birth, Hingson now tours the country sharing his story and how the experience reinforced his long-held beliefs in the value of trust, teamwork and open-mindedness toward change.
Offering thoughts some audience members described as inspirational, Hingson said the devastation and horror he witnessed did not strip him of his faith in humanity.
"I believe anyone who can do something like this is no longer a human being," he said. "I believe there is enough of us in the world (who deplore it) and, sooner or later, we're going to say enough is enough."
Hingson's message resonated with Brighton resident Kathy Kedzierski.
"His entire outlook on life - his calmness and his perspective on dealing with change - it seemed to be a big part of the reason he survived that day."
Highland Lakes Campus President Gordon May said the story offers all who hear it a new outlook on the aftermath of the attacks.
"I think the message you've had for us is an inspiring message," May said. "I think it's a healing message."
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/031804/loc_20040318072.shtml
