Canadian last known person to escape World Trade Center on 9/11

THUNDER BAY – On Sept. 11, 2001, Ron DiFrancesco went to work like any other day, joining a throng of people racing to their offices in the World Trade Center in downtown Manhattan.A few hours later, a plane slammed into the side of the north tower, and he and his colleagues rushed to the window, watching in stunned disbelief at the smoke and flames pouring from the gaping hole in the New York City landmark.

DiFrancesco, his office situated on the 84th floor of the south tower, started taking phone calls from friends around the world, worried for his safety.That would soon change, when the Hamilton-born DiFrancesco took a call from a trader friend in Toronto, who surveyed the situation and advised his friend to get out of the building as soon as possible. He agreed, called his wife again and then asked a few colleagues to join him. His friend Mike agreed.

Catching their bearings, and realizing the scope of the damage, DiFrancesco took to the nearest stairwell, looking to manoeuvre 84 stories down. Only he, and others with him encountered a stream of people heading up the stairs, saying the way down was impassable.They began their descent, having manoeuvred their way around the damage to a stairwell that appeared intact.

“Everything was on fire, but I could see. I ran through a couple more flights of stairs that were on fire, but now I had no sense of the pain. I was moving . . . and if there was any chance of me making it, it was now. Suddenly it was clear and calm and wet.” “I tell you this with all sincerity folks. The images that I carried with me on that day have no place in man’s imagination,” DiFrancesco said.

Once again he thought he was about to die, not knowing he was likely the last person to escape the south tower before it collapsed.“I had burns over 60 per cent of my body. I had been intubated. I had a sizeable laceration in my head and a broken bone in my back. My contact lenses were melted to my eyes. But I was alive, alive to join the rest of the world to try to make sense of that horrific day,” DiFrancesco said.

Source: Digital Coin News (digitalcoinnews.net)

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