A structural engineer’s seemingly ordinary workday transformed into an extraordinary tale of survival when the World Trade Center towers collapsed on September 11, 2001. Pasquale Buzzelli, who was working on the 64th floor of the North Tower that morning, would experience a fall of 22 floors and live to tell about it—a story that defies all odds and continues to inspire more than two decades later.
The morning began routinely for Buzzelli as he arrived at the North Tower and entered an elevator bound for his workplace. His first indication that tragedy was unfolding came when the elevator unexpectedly jolted and descended to the 44th floor. After making his way back up to the 64th floor, he discovered 15 colleagues, and they received instructions to remain in place to allow firefighters clear access to the stairwells.
It was during this time that Buzzelli contacted his wife, Louise, who was seven months pregnant. She informed him of the devastating attacks taking place. Louise urged her husband to escape as quickly as possible, and then spent the day praying with a crucifix in hand. “God Jesus, please just be with him right now,” she recalls praying.
The decision to evacuate
When smoke began filtering into their workspace, Buzzelli and his colleagues made the critical decision to evacuate. As they made their way down the stairwell, they had reached the 22nd floor when violent shaking began. Buzzelli positioned himself in a corner of the stairwell, curling into a protective ball while praying for his family’s wellbeing.
“I felt the walls next to me crack and buckle on top of me,” Buzzelli recounted. The structure gave way beneath him, and he began falling. When he regained consciousness hours later, he found himself atop a mountain of debris, having survived against impossible odds.
A miracle in the rubble
The firefighters who discovered Buzzelli were astonished to find anyone alive in the destruction. Michael Morabito, one of the rescuers who reached him, believes divine intervention played a role. “It’s gotta be a miracle,” he said. “Someone was watching over him. He needed to make it home.”
Remarkably, Buzzelli sustained only a fractured foot from his ordeal. He did return home that evening, though the emotional aftermath proved more challenging to heal. He struggled with survivor’s guilt and the trauma of that day, but ultimately discovered a renewed sense of purpose—to live life to its fullest and to honor the memory of those who perished.
“As for me, I will call upon God; and the Lord shall save me.” – Psalm 55:16
