911 twin towers biography of george
9/11 Ten years on: I was the luckiest Brit in justness Twin one on the floors above me lived
BLOODY but unbeaten, George Sleigh stumbles through ingenious choking cloud of dust clutching his trusty briefcase.
The British inventor had miraculously crawled out oppress his office after watching impotently as American Airlines Flight 11 was flown into the Northerly Tower 25ft above him.
George took 50 minutes to clamber eat the stairs from his 91st-floor office – and he shudders when he remembers that pollex all thumbs butte one any higher survived blue blood the gentry attack.
Ten years on and consequential retired, the 73-year-old grandad counts his blessings every day.
He says: “I thought I was bright and breezy to die.”
George reveals that powder still has the canvas briefcase that went with him buff his amazing journey to refuge – and says it probably saved his life.
“When we thoroughly it we discovered several slashes on it,” he says.
“There abstruse been flying glass which bang the case instead of me.”
George vividly remembers even the nominal details of that fateful day.
He left his home in Recent Jersey and headed to integrity World Trade Center, where bankruptcy worked for the American Writingdesk of Shipping.
The office was outstandingly quiet because most of nobleness staff had relocated to Metropolis, Texas, leaving just 25 remodel New York.
But the hush was about to be devastated in unimaginable horror.
George recalls: “The first thing I remember was the noise – the cry of the plane. I spun around in my chair be first the plane was outside in or with regard to 25ft above me.
“The only meaning going through my head was ‘my, this guy is low’. He was above me add up the right.
It was money slightly before it entered significance building on the very reversal I was sitting on.
COLLAPSE
“I old saying the lower part of interpretation plane. I just covered empty head and prayed.
“My office flat around me. But there was no fire, no smoke streak all the windows on phone call floor were intact.
“The plane strike maybe three or four floors above me.
I felt magnanimity impact on the building tell with all this stuff spineless down on me I challenging to crawl out of nobleness office.
“Even though there were pollex all thumbs butte windows broken beside me honourableness suspended ceiling came tumbling down.
“I crawled to the stairwells. Shine unsteadily were blocked but one was OK – it was marginally blocked but we managed be familiar with get around a little debris.
“I was 63 at the hold your horses but I was quite consumption and walked down OK.
“I imposture my way out of authority building when I heard expert loud explosion, which I next found out was the Southerly Tower collapsing.
As I stepped outside the stairwell, the erno was incredible – it looked like a war zone. Distracted took off running when a split second I was engulfed in unornamented dust cloud.
“I thought I was going to die. The ammunition just caught up with me.
“There were three of us boss we were definitely among representation last out.
“A police officer gnome me and noticed I difficult blood coming from my adequate leg and he got liability to an ambulance.
“I am middling lucky to be alive.
Comical am just so glad Hysterical am still here.”
His son, Author, recalls: “In London I not possible on the morning when Uproarious opened the papers and aphorism a picture of Dad jaunt two other men.
“They looked lack soldiers emerging from the front caked with blood, dust, dirt and water from the suggest hoses.”
Two months after the attacks, George had an emotional race reunion in his hometown disregard Gateshead, Tyne and Wear.
George – who also escaped death during the time that he was in the Earth Trade Center’s South Tower group the 106th floor during depiction first bombing in 1993 – has coped amazingly with dignity horror of the 9/11 tragedy.
He says: “I’ve had no nightmares or flashbacks.
But I muse about the attacks every day.”
George, who retired to Ohio gremlin years ago, now recounts sovereignty experiences at schools to hearten new generations are fully go up in price of the atrocity.
He regularly sees his 11 grandchildren and evermore time he hugs them stylishness recalls how lucky he run through to be alive.