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Blind man will recount 9/11 WTC escape story
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Michael Hingson, who is blind, was evacuated by his guide dog, Roselle, from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001. Hingson will discuss his escape at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Poland public library, 311 S. Main St.
POLAND
A blind man, who was evacuated from the 78th floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower on Sept. 11, 2001, by his guide dog, will tell the story of his escape from the terrorist attack to an audience here this week.
Michael Hingson, author of “Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero,” will give a free presentation at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Poland branch of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, 311 S. Main St.
The book, which made the New York Times’ best- seller list, was published in 2011 by Thomas Nelson Inc. of Nashville, Tenn.
“We love to bring in an author and have them share their experiences. This is a real life experience, and this is going to be an amazing story,” said Janet Loew, library communications and public relations director.
Heidi Daniel, library director, said she hopes Hingson’s talk inspires the audience “to research other topics, whether it be universal accessibility for people with different disabilities or further information about 9/11.”
Hingson, a district sales manager for a data protection and network security systems company, was in a meeting in his WTC office, with his Labrador retriever guide dog at his feet, when the first hijacked, terrorist-piloted plane hit the North Tower, cutting through floors 93-99 at 8:46 a.m.
“The building shudders violently, then starts to groan and slowly tip to the southwest. In slow motion, the tower leans over something like 20 feet,” Hingson wrote.
Four minutes later, Hingson, his dog, Roselle, and a co-worker began their 45-minute trek down a windowless stairwell as people badly burned by flaming jet fuel were evacuated past them and firefighters ascended to floors above them.
Hingson and his dog reached the first floor at 9:35 a.m., running through a fire sprinkler waterfall as they exited the lobby.
They gasped for air as they were blasted with sand and gravel from a roaring, 300-foot-high dust cloud after the WTC’s South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m., after having been hit by the second hijacked plane at 9:03 a.m.
“The South Tower was down in just 10 seconds in a cacaphonous waterfall of glass, steel and people,” Hingson wrote. “We are running for our lives. No one is helping anyone anymore. Except for Roselle and me. We are still there for each other,” Hingson added.
Hingson and Roselle temporarily took shelter in a subway station.
Emerging from the subway before the North Tower collapsed at 10:29 a.m., they rested on a bench at a small plaza near Broadway and Canal Street.
As they sat there, Hingson and his co-worker heard then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani on the radio at 11 a.m., ordering everyone to evacuate to locations north of Canal Street.
They continued north, stopping a half-hour later at a small Vietnamese restaurant as military jets roared by.
Still dust-covered, Hingson and his dog boarded a commuter train to return to his New Jersey residence, where the smoke plume from the WTC site, 20 miles away, was still visible that evening.