The Family's Final Collapse Of The South Tower Grappling With Scars On 9 / 11
Ron DiFrancesco voice softens, and trails off. Hardly ends his sentences, when he remembers the experience of September 11, 2001. He speaks as if it happened yesterday.
"It 'was hell," he says. "I was only seconds away from death. ... I did not know I was going to run away from it."
DiFrancesco is believed to be the last person in the south tower of World Trade Center before it collapsed. According to reports, was one of only four people to escape above the floor 81.
A decade later, the family, the guilt still weighs heavily on him.
"I carry with me in my grave if I had someone with me," he says, "I still harbor a lot of guilt.
"Time heals a little, but not make you forget what happened. And I think for our generation, our time is marked in history. The world changed that day, "he said.
DiFrancesco did not want to go into details of his shocking experience of 9 / 11 says that forces him to relive a nightmare. Over the past 10 years, has only given a few interviews, including one by John Geiger, The Third Man Factor book and the second article in the Ottawa Citizen. Based on these accounts, this is what happened DiFrancesco:
The first plane had just hit the North Tower, 84, and his office floor, South Tower, DiFrancesco, 37 years, Canadian money market instruments of Euro Brokers, a broker, he saw smoke billowing from the building. Moments after leaving the task of evacuating the second machine crushed the south tower, hitting a building between 77 and eighty-fifth floor.
DiFrancesco was thrown against a wall by the force of impact, and he rushed to the nearest stairwell and headed down. On the way he led a group of people trying to flee, and they told him to climb the stairs instead, because the flames were so bad here.
When discussing what direction to go, they heard someone call for help. DiFrancesco and his colleague, Brian Clark, vice president of Euro Brokers, he went to save the man, but DiFrancesco overwhelmed by smoke and was forced to turn back.
He started up the stairs to find clear air, but the doors of each landing was locked, a safety mechanism to prevent smoke from filling the entire building in case of fire. Panic in the game when it became harder to breathe, then he turned and started back down.
Reached on the impact of the landing area and joined the others on the floor, breathless. But a voice told him to get up and move on. He ran down the stairs, facing his arms when he fought through the flames.
Finally, he reached the ground floor, where a security guard directed him to another exit. When he reached, he heard a huge roar when the building began to collapse. He turned and saw a fireball heading straight for him. A few days later he woke up in hospital with gashes in his head, burns on his body, and a broken bone in his back.
Ten years later, DiFrancesco, now 47 and lives in Toronto, Canada, says that the memory and legacy of 9 / 11 pervade everyday life.
"The scars over my head and my hands to remind me every day how lucky I am," he says. "And 'memorabilia throughout the house. We enjoyed our stay, we have a lot' of images of New York and the World Trade Center. We have a couple of albums and cards people had sent, and some of the memorial books to look [also]. They really made my wife watch on my wrist that was 9 / 11, has been broken, but it stopped at the exact moment of the building came down. "
But the effects of their experience that day go far beyond the scars and memories. DiFrancesco's near death experience changed his outlook on life.
"For me, being so close to death, I'm not afraid to die or continue," he said. "When I was almost down and out, I see the light, and I was ready to go, but I'm here. ... If I die tomorrow, I would not leave my wife and kids, but I'm not afraid to die now. "
DiFrancesco is the whole mentality has changed, too. He is constantly on alert, even when there is no imminent danger.
"I am very aware of my surroundings and what is happening, what I do and what others do," he said. "Every time I walk into a building or a room, I need to know where the exit is, because that day I was not in control, and I almost never went out. It's a bit obsessive, I think, but it has changed my way of think and how I play. "
Even seemingly normal events to cause horrific flashbacks.
"When I see the skyscrapers and airplanes, jogs my memory," he says. "Voices powerful [and chaos] worries me. I am a little 'claustrophobic, so when [I'm] in a large crowd, it makes me a lot. I also like the screaming and shouting is really for me."
But apart from the pain and chaos came compassion, hope and meaning to the idea of paying forward. DiFrancesco and his family have always been religious and involved in community service, but the overwhelming awareness among their friends and neighbors after 9 / 11 and moved into much of their lives.
"When I was in the hospital, people were taking care of food for the family and continued for several months," he said. The community is out of his way to help the family recover DiFrancesco.
"My car has left the station, and my wife did not know what it was. Next came and found me a car and took him back to us," he says. "And I only had a key, which is dissolved in the World Trade Center, so he went to get new keys made to my car."
Lengths, which went to support his community inspired them to DiFrancesco and his wife more than ever to pay back and teach children to do the same. DiFrancesco is now the government two charities: the Villa Colombo, senior citizens' home in Italy, and Camp Trillium, a charity that promotes and provides leisure experiences for children with cancer and their families.
For DiFrancescos, volunteering for Camp Trillium is a family event.
"I am involved in this type of cancer for a bike ride ... go down 60 miles per day for four days," he says. "My children and my wife are actively involved in [also]. My two older children to ride with me, and my two young [children], and my wife as a volunteer for four days."
DiFrancesco has always enjoyed cycling, especially for a good cause, but since 9 / 11, in his horse has a different meaning, and will run for one or two hours almost every day.
"I love the tranquility of the road, cycling, horse riding and pack ... [it] a healing for me," he says. "I think it's cathartic."
The healing process is underway, one of his family. Over the DiFrancesco and his wife have been collected from friends and family stories' about 11/09 affected them - and may even consider putting in a book.
"We both found it fascinating what you were doing that day ... people went home, took their children to school, and hugged and held them close," he said. "Just noise stories [their] ... it is interesting to know what everyone was doing that day. "
There are still questions that can not be answered, and survivor guilt is always present.
"I do not understand all that," he said. "Why did I survive and 61 of my colleagues have not?"
For DiFrancesco, however, the message is clear.
"When the number is, he is calling you. Coming so close to death, I believe that you can not change destiny," he says. "Be happy every day that we have here."
"It 'was hell," he says. "I was only seconds away from death. ... I did not know I was going to run away from it."
DiFrancesco is believed to be the last person in the south tower of World Trade Center before it collapsed. According to reports, was one of only four people to escape above the floor 81.
A decade later, the family, the guilt still weighs heavily on him.
"I carry with me in my grave if I had someone with me," he says, "I still harbor a lot of guilt.
"Time heals a little, but not make you forget what happened. And I think for our generation, our time is marked in history. The world changed that day, "he said.
The first plane had just hit the North Tower, 84, and his office floor, South Tower, DiFrancesco, 37 years, Canadian money market instruments of Euro Brokers, a broker, he saw smoke billowing from the building. Moments after leaving the task of evacuating the second machine crushed the south tower, hitting a building between 77 and eighty-fifth floor.
DiFrancesco was thrown against a wall by the force of impact, and he rushed to the nearest stairwell and headed down. On the way he led a group of people trying to flee, and they told him to climb the stairs instead, because the flames were so bad here.
When discussing what direction to go, they heard someone call for help. DiFrancesco and his colleague, Brian Clark, vice president of Euro Brokers, he went to save the man, but DiFrancesco overwhelmed by smoke and was forced to turn back.
He started up the stairs to find clear air, but the doors of each landing was locked, a safety mechanism to prevent smoke from filling the entire building in case of fire. Panic in the game when it became harder to breathe, then he turned and started back down.
Finally, he reached the ground floor, where a security guard directed him to another exit. When he reached, he heard a huge roar when the building began to collapse. He turned and saw a fireball heading straight for him. A few days later he woke up in hospital with gashes in his head, burns on his body, and a broken bone in his back.
Ten years later, DiFrancesco, now 47 and lives in Toronto, Canada, says that the memory and legacy of 9 / 11 pervade everyday life.
"The scars over my head and my hands to remind me every day how lucky I am," he says. "And 'memorabilia throughout the house. We enjoyed our stay, we have a lot' of images of New York and the World Trade Center. We have a couple of albums and cards people had sent, and some of the memorial books to look [also]. They really made my wife watch on my wrist that was 9 / 11, has been broken, but it stopped at the exact moment of the building came down. "
"For me, being so close to death, I'm not afraid to die or continue," he said. "When I was almost down and out, I see the light, and I was ready to go, but I'm here. ... If I die tomorrow, I would not leave my wife and kids, but I'm not afraid to die now. "
DiFrancesco is the whole mentality has changed, too. He is constantly on alert, even when there is no imminent danger.
"I am very aware of my surroundings and what is happening, what I do and what others do," he said. "Every time I walk into a building or a room, I need to know where the exit is, because that day I was not in control, and I almost never went out. It's a bit obsessive, I think, but it has changed my way of think and how I play. "
Even seemingly normal events to cause horrific flashbacks.
"When I see the skyscrapers and airplanes, jogs my memory," he says. "Voices powerful [and chaos] worries me. I am a little 'claustrophobic, so when [I'm] in a large crowd, it makes me a lot. I also like the screaming and shouting is really for me."
But apart from the pain and chaos came compassion, hope and meaning to the idea of paying forward. DiFrancesco and his family have always been religious and involved in community service, but the overwhelming awareness among their friends and neighbors after 9 / 11 and moved into much of their lives.
"My car has left the station, and my wife did not know what it was. Next came and found me a car and took him back to us," he says. "And I only had a key, which is dissolved in the World Trade Center, so he went to get new keys made to my car."
Lengths, which went to support his community inspired them to DiFrancesco and his wife more than ever to pay back and teach children to do the same. DiFrancesco is now the government two charities: the Villa Colombo, senior citizens' home in Italy, and Camp Trillium, a charity that promotes and provides leisure experiences for children with cancer and their families.
For DiFrancescos, volunteering for Camp Trillium is a family event.
"I am involved in this type of cancer for a bike ride ... go down 60 miles per day for four days," he says. "My children and my wife are actively involved in [also]. My two older children to ride with me, and my two young [children], and my wife as a volunteer for four days."
"I love the tranquility of the road, cycling, horse riding and pack ... [it] a healing for me," he says. "I think it's cathartic."
The healing process is underway, one of his family. Over the DiFrancesco and his wife have been collected from friends and family stories' about 11/09 affected them - and may even consider putting in a book.
"We both found it fascinating what you were doing that day ... people went home, took their children to school, and hugged and held them close," he said. "Just noise stories [their] ... it is interesting to know what everyone was doing that day. "
There are still questions that can not be answered, and survivor guilt is always present.
"I do not understand all that," he said. "Why did I survive and 61 of my colleagues have not?"
For DiFrancesco, however, the message is clear.
"When the number is, he is calling you. Coming so close to death, I believe that you can not change destiny," he says. "Be happy every day that we have here."
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