Woman recalls how she, coworkers escaped South Tower on 9/11

DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. — Twenty years aft hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center successful New York, a pistillate who worked successful 1 of the towers recalls the frantic moments erstwhile she helped her coworkers escape.

"It's thing I volition ne'er forget," said Gail Menendez, who worked successful the South Tower of the World Trade Center connected Sept. 11. "I cognize what it felt like. I don't deliberation idiosyncratic other would cognize however we feel."

As the satellite remembers the 20th day of 9/11, galore of those who had household members oregon loved ones progressive successful the catastrophe retrieve waiting for news.

"She's astir apt dead. I benignant of braced myself for it," said Michelle Menendez Olgers, Menendez's daughter.

Menendez Olgers would hold for much than 4 hours earlier she heard her mother's voice.

"I was shocked," she said. "Again, I had conscionable made a script successful my head. I was braced. Obviously, I was precise grateful, and I deliberation I was inactive shocked."

Hours aft the attack, Menendez explained however she escaped the gathering connected that fateful day.

"I enactment connected the 67th floor. The elevator took america to the 44th floor, and from the 44th floor, we had to locomotion down each these flights of stairs," she said successful a 2001 tv interview.

Menendez said that portion making her mode down the stairs, she felt the infinitesimal that the 2nd level deed the South Tower.

"The lights dimmed. The full gathering shook, and you benignant of fell forward," Menendez said. "That's thing I volition ever remember."

Over the days, weeks and months, Menendez Olgers would dilatory larn precisely what her parent experienced.

Menendez had conscionable stepped into her bureau connected 9/11 erstwhile she heard a yell. Over a loudspeaker, a dependable told employees to structure successful place.

As a level warden, Menendez decided to instrumentality matters into her ain hands.

"I utilized to spell to the meetings and cognize what to do; God forbid thing ever happen," Menendez said.

"To her credit, she contradicted the instructions connected the PA strategy and told everybody to go," Menendez Olgers said.

Before Menendez ran, she began to shriek to those astir her to bash the aforesaid — run, and get out.

Menendez Olgers said that she couldn't assistance but consciousness immeasurably arrogant for however her parent took the clip to marque definite that her colleagues besides made it to information that day.

"I deliberation successful conscionable talking to her, she truly downplayed the relation she was credited with by her colleagues for getting them each disconnected the floor," she said.

And Menendez's colleagues were besides speedy to convey her for her speedy thinking.

"Everybody came implicit to me, hugging me, and successful my mind, I was saying, 'Are they crazy? Why are they hugging me?'" she said. "And past I'm thinking; possibly it's due to the fact that I yelled 'Get out, get out,' and they made it retired okay."

However, it's not those who survived who Menendez remembers from that day. She said she tries not to read, ticker oregon perceive to thing dealing with 9/11, haunted by those who mislaid their lives that day.

"The mean idiosyncratic doesn't cognize those radical I worked with, you know," Menendez said. "To them, I conjecture it's conscionable different idiosyncratic that died. But to me, knowing immoderate of the radical successful the gathering died, I deliberation it's a small harder for me."

By the clip she made it extracurricular the building, she, similar thousands of different people, simply started walking.

"I was surviving successful Brooklyn astatine the time. I walked implicit the bridge; nobody's running," Menendez said.

She made it home, wherever she would enactment for astir a week.

"I didn't privation to beryllium successful the location by myself. I wanted to beryllium with different people," Menendez said.

Menendez said that too being delicate astir the events of 9/11, she doesn't deliberation that the events of that time changed her.

Her girl agrees that her ma is the aforesaid and said that it mightiness beryllium amended to retrieve that time from a region with respect portion moving guardant with life.

This communicative was primitively published by Wayne Covil connected Scripps presumption WTVR successful Richmond, Virginia.