9/11 Survivor Stories That Will Totally Inspire You
Updated Jan. 15 2020, 3:13 p.m. ET
Almost two decades ago on Sept. 11, 2001, the United States experienced one of the greatest tragedies in American history. Now, 18 years later, survivors of the disaster are posting their stories and experiences to social media.
And whether they were working nearby, if they were in one of the buildings, or if they were fighting the fires, the stories are incredibly heart-breaking, but they will definitely inspire you. So check out a few of them, below.
1. The working mom who was lucky to be late for work.
Reddit user u/Unkn0wn314 has one lucky mother, who was late for work in the WTC on Sept. 11. She was busy taking care of the reddit user, who was a baby at the time, because the babysitter was busy that day. The reddit user's mom missed her bus, and eventually got on the next one.
She ended up witnessing the destruction from the bus. Needless to say, her tardiness came as a total blessing.
2. The man who survived the destruction... and later, cancer.
Howie, a friend of Twitter user @SerraRob, survived the World Trade Center collapse, and later on, he beat cancer (which was presumably caused by the debris from the burning buildings), per his tweet.
Now, Howie and Rob are advocates for the Renew 9/11 Compensation Fund, which continues to help those who have long-term health effects. They are going to D.C. to fight for the cause.
3. The man on the 48th floor of North Tower, who made a timely escape
Andrij Stasiw posted a story to Facebook, detailing his escape from his cubicle on the 48th Floor, North Tower, of 1 World Trade Center. Despite the fact he was up so high, he was able to escape early enough to make it out in time before the building collapsed entirely.
Andrij then called his friends and family to check in on them, before making his way back to New Jersey.
4. The firefighter who barely escaped death, after running back into the building
Reddit user u/tim_brown is a retired NYC firefighter, who posted his story to reddit about barely escaping death on Sept. 11, 2001. He ran into the building while it was burning, to save victims from danger. The post includes footage and photos.
Tim is depicted in the video above, which is a full news segment about victims and firefighters during the attacks.
5. The Wall Street employee who biked 10 miles home.
One reddit post (the account has since been deleted), detailed the story of someone who worked just a few blocks from the World Trade Center. The employee arrived at work and was consumed by chaos.
Transportation was shut down, so he got on a bike he found in the rubble, and biked 10 miles home.
"Traveling by bike is a very different way to see the world. As I got further away from the burning rubble, through the triages with no patients, the city began to become more and more normal."
6. The firefighting father who helped pull out bodies from the rubble.
Reddit user u/trgerhpy's father was a firefighter during the attacks, and spent most of his time on top of the debris, pulling out bodies from beneath the rubble.
The user's post details how the K9s were especially helpful for sniffing out bidoes, and how the user's father doesn't regret a second of helping the victims. He sustained a shoulder injury, which led to his retirement in 2005.
Remembering the victims of 9/11 today, as well as their friends and family. We are eternally grateful for those who helped amidst the attacks. RIP.
