The terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 remain some of the most horrific in modern history with 2,977 people losing their lives. Now, one man who miraculously survived the event has revealed the one decision he made that allowed him to escape.
Everyone on Earth seemed to stop in their tracks when news of planes crashing into the World Trade Center was revealed, and what happened in the short 17 minutes between the North and South Towers being hit lost thousands of lives and injured countless more.
While many tragically perished in the horrific attacks, around 15,000 people did thankfully manage to escape with their lives, and one man has shared exactly what he did that allowed him to survive despite being near the top of the South Tower when the first plane hit.
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In an interview with LADbible Stories on YouTube, Joe Dittmar revealed what led him to survive by a matter or minutes and perhaps even seconds thanks to a number of smart decisions in a moment of widespread panic.
His day began by being called for a meeting on the 105th floor of the South Tower, which was just five from the building's apex. There were 54 people in total that were called to that meeting, yet he is only one of seven that survived the attack.
Upon witnessing Flight 11 crash into the North Tower, Joe described the feeling that we all would have had in that moment:
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"I had that feeling that all of us have had at sometimes in our life, that pit-of-your-stomach, I-want-my-mommy feeling. I just wanted to go home. I didn't want to be there, I just wanted to go home."
He remembers seeing almost everyone frozen in place, seemingly unable to move despite the horrific events that occurred right next to them, and thankfully it was his own initiative that eventually led to his safety.
Despite advice from the building security for everyone to stay in place and continue working, he decided to head straight for the stairwell and attempt to head down to street level and to safety.
He recalls bumping into another worker on his way to the stairs, who had a similar idea to him but decided to head to the restroom for a toilet break first. Tragically, it was that decision that lost him his life.
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It was at the 78th floor that he had another decision to make, and this has emerged as by far the most important choice that eventually led to his safety. On that floor is what's known as a 'Sky Lobby', where the elevator has to stop as it can't go all the way up to the 110th.
"When we got to the 78th floor, the woman that was running our meeting is screaming back at me," he recalled. "She wants me to go to the elevator with her, and finally some of my good common sense took over and I thought, 'No, building, state of duress, fire.' It wasn't our building at that point, but, 'Stay in the stairwell, Joe'," he remembers thinking.
He politely waved at his manager and continued down the stairwell, and it was just a few minutes later once he'd reached between the 74th and 72nd floor that the second plane struck the South Tower, and it collided through the 77th and 82nd floor — likely where he still would have been waiting for an elevator if he'd made a different decision.
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"Arguably the best decision I've made in what is still my life," he proclaimed, while tearing up remembering the lives of those who weren't as fortunate as him in that moment.