Miracles emerge from debris

USA TODAY ^ | September 5, 2002 | Dennis Cauchon and Martha T. Moore

[LenS]

The bodies of 2,803 human beings were buried when the World Trade Center crumbled into 3 billion pounds of debris. Miraculously, 20 people survived the collapse, amid steel beams, concrete slabs and other wreckage. They escaped death in the most unlikely of ways and in the most surprising of places. Fourteen people survived inside the remnants of a stairwell at the center of the north tower. One man remembers falling from a 22nd floor stairwell in the north tower and regaining consciousness atop the 12-story-deep pile of rubble at Ground Zero. Two police officers, trapped in debris between the towers, barely survived both collapses.

[LenS]

I found the following to be the most chilling paragraph -- "Other people — no one knows how many — also survived the immediate collapse. They were heard on fire department radios, or their bodies, with no apparent fatal injuries, were found days or weeks later, almost intact, inside protective pockets deep in the tangle of steel and cement at Ground Zero. They could not be reached in time because of the immense depth of the rubble."

[machman]

Wow, some of these stories are amazing.

[Aggie Mama]

That got me too. Actually, the whole article did.

[Portnoy]

I'm speechless...........

I can't beleive its been a year. This next week is really going to be rough.

[LenS]

USA TODAY has been doing a nice job of reconstructing the details of what happened in the Towers -- where people died, where people lived, how the elevators saved thousands, how the elevators then killed hundreds, how the sight of jumpers saved many in the South Tower by making them flee, etc.

[backhoe]

"If it's going to hit me, I will die seeing my friend,"

That is one of the loveliest, in a weird kind of way, things I have ever read.

[Vic3O3]

In some ways I'm amazed anyone survived the collapses.

[Paradox]

Suddenly, Jimeno heard a distant voice. "United States Marine Corps!" a man yelled from far away. "Can anybody hear us?"

McLoughlin and Jimeno began to scream in unison: "8-13! 8-13!" It was the code for an officer down.

"Keep yelling," the voice said. "We'll find you."

The Marine poked his head in the hole. Jimeno looked at his face 20 feet above. "Please don't leave," Jimeno begged.

"Buddy," the Marine said, "I'm not going anywhere."

That is so heartwarming, it brings tears to my eyes! US Marine Corp, some of our finest Men.

[Black Agnes]

USMC ping! Saw these guys interviewed on TV locally not long after. The marine lived in CT I think and when he saw the whole thing on TV, hopped in his car and drove down. He got there before they had time to secure the site & keep out anybody who just walked up. Being a marine, he fearlessly traversed scary terrain & heard these guys yelling. Sounds like a great guy!

[fone]

>>>I found the following to be the most chilling paragraph --"Other people — no one knows how many — also survived the immediate collapse. They were heard on fire department radios, or their bodies, with no apparent fatal injuries, were found days or weeks later, almost intact, inside protective pockets deep in the tangle of steel and cement at Ground Zero. They could not be reached in time because of the immense depth of the rubble."<<<

Although the exact time now escapes me, maybe a week afterward, I prayed that they would find just one more person alive. Just one more, I thought, in a semi-delirious state which consumed me for over a month afterward.

Just one, who somehow had access to water...

I don't think I can comprehend how horrible a death that would be; alive, yet trapped. May Almighty God have mercy on their souls, every one of them... both the survivors and those who did not.

Thank you for posting this Len.

[Black Agnes]

I kind of suspected as much. There was much hoopla the night of the collapse about people using cell phones/etc to call out. They even brought in cell phone towers to point at the rubble pile. Then, just the next day, the whole rescue effort absolutely clammed up about any cell phone calls. I guess they'd figured out there was no way to reach any survivors at that point and keeping us abreast of a doomed operation wouldn't be good for anyone's sanity.

[mombonn]

Focus on the Family ran interviews with 2 survivors this morning that were heartbreaking, but inspiring at the same time.

So are the stories of these survivors. Prayer continues for each survivor, the families of those who lost someone, and all the rescue workers who worked so long and hard.

[dd5339]

Semper Fidelis

USMC 83-87

[LenS]

Mr. Buzelli's survival by ending up on top of the rubble is probably the origin of those tales that someone rode the building down from the very top.

[NYer]

Jimeno, a Catholic, had a vision. Jesus walked toward him, dressed in a white robe. Tall grass waving in the wind could be seen over one shoulder, a large lake over the other. Jesus was bringing him a bottle of water.

What a compassionate image!!

Thank you for posting this story ... these are the first of many stories that will be published over the next few days and long into the winter of our lives.

[Salvation]

Jimeno, a Catholic, had a vision. Jesus walked toward him, dressed in a white robe. Tall grass waving in the wind could be seen over one shoulder, a large lake over the other. Jesus was bringing him a bottle of water.

Thanks for posting this article!

[Salvation]

"Pain is good. Pain is your friend. If you're feeling pain, you're still alive." To a pair of men whose legs were crushed, this was raucously funny.

Heart-wrenching, but it is so true. In life we need to lean into the pain, not run away from it.

[Salvation]

He dived halfway down a flight of stairs and curled up in a fetal position on a landing.

I can't believe this is how I'm going to die, he thought. Please God, take care of my family and my poor daughter. Please God, make it quick.

The building crashed down around him. He saw five flashes of light. His face felt like it was being sandblasted. He fell for what seemed four or five seconds. He got hit in the head and saw stars.

"It seemed like a second later I opened my eyes and was sitting on a pile of rubble," Buzzelli says. It was actually three hours later. He had been knocked unconscious.

What an astounding account!

[Monty22]

He was remembering Ben Hur..

[Salvation]

After three hours, they made a discovery: sunlight. Between occasional breaks in the smoke, they could see the sky from a hole on the side of the fourth-floor stairs.

Picciotto was the first out. He walked up the stairs and onto the top of Ground Zero. He was alone in an endless field of debris. Buildings burned in the distance.

Lim walked up the stairs and joined him. They stood in silence atop 16 acres of rubble.

"Chief," Lim said finally, "what do you think the chances of surviving something like this are?"

"One in a billion," Picciotto said. "One in a billion."

And this one brings tears to my eyes! god bless all who perished that day as well as these people who survived.