Suggested audio: Lacrimosa by Mozart
20 years has passed since the horrific terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001. I will never ever forget that terrible day. King’s Road in Chelsea where my previous place of work was located, the Royal Brompton hospital, was at a standstill. Nothing but haunting silence as events unfolded on the televisions and radios around us.
I found this moving poem dedicated to the 200 victims who fell to their deaths.
For the WTC Jumpers
“And when Satan had finished all the tempting he left Him, to await another opportunity” Luke 5:13
He came back,
This time for me.
On the 110th floor I was so close to God
I could almost grab his beard.
Never before has heaven been this close to hell.
I can feel its fire on the floors below
Raising ash and paper and smoke
Thick as Satan’s laughter.
At the window, shattered,
I look for salvation and he tempts me,
Dares me to jump,
Whispering a psalm in my ear
He spits as he speaks:
“He will bid his angels watch over you.
With their hands they will support you.”
I mumble “Amen,”
Close my eyes and sense the rush of air.
I cannot breathe until I finally feel
Those hands of angels
Hard as cement against my face.
by Doug Seubert
The New York medical examiner’s office says it does not classify the people who fell to their deaths on Sept. 11 as “jumpers.”
“A ‘jumper’ is somebody who goes to the office in the morning knowing that they will commit suicide,” says Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office. “These people were forced out by the smoke and flames or blown out.”
She says the medical examiner’s office couldn’t determine who jumped because the injuries were similar to those suffered by the people killed in the collapse of the towers. The manner of death for all those who died was listed as homicide on death certificates.
Full article: 200 Jump, Fall, Leap, Dive and Plunge to Death From WTC by Dennis Cauchon and Martha Moore, USA TODAY 09/02/2002
© Copyright: Sharon Lawson™
There’s something very creepy about watching them, but at the same time, given the alternative, I’d say jumping would be a far better way to go.
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I’ve watched hours and hours of footage including incredible 2 hour video of the firemen in the lobby of wtc 1. The ensuing chaos and sickening sounds of the jumpers, then they heard wtc 2 collapse and had to evacuate. They were crying because they knew nothing could be done. The NYPD ems came back down empty handed, just awful. The whole situation shocked and strangely captivated me. Guess it’s just so surreal. You’re right, jumping and immediate death was the poor souls better option. Imagine having to choose how to die knowing you won’t be rescued. Tragic.
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It really was. I don’t remember the name of it, but I saw one documentary that was put together using video clips from a bunch of different sources, and there was no narration, just a minute by minute account of what happened. It was really chilling.
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My God, that’s harrowing, be like reliving the day. The testimony from the NY forensic team was terrible. Thousands and thousands of pulverised remains recovered. The most families got to lay to rest was tissue the size of a thumbnail. I think someone was found and identified in 2016? Must have been in building work.
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Yeah, I vaguely remember hearing they found bits of remains during work on a building where they hadn’t originally expected to find people.
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