Cheektowaga, NY (WBEN) A local woman recalls her story of survival 20 years ago, when hijackers flew planes into the World Trade Center. This, as she's helping to organize an event to honor first responders who died trying to save others that day.
Lisa Amatura is helping to organize Tunnel to Towers, a 5k run that starts at Bellevue Fire Company. "It kicks off at 11am. At 9am, you can come down and enjoy music and activities," says Amatura. "All of the firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11, their names will be along the course at Stiglmeier Park."
Amatura says the funds raised will go toward wounded veterans to build smart homes for them.
Amatura is recalling her own 9/11 survival story. She was on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center and had a meeting scheduled to start at 9am.
"I went up on the express elevator to the 78th floor at 8 o'clock. I was looking at the Statue of Liberty when I saw a huge orange fireball and felt the impact of the plane hitting the building. The ceiling tiles were falling and there was a lot of confusion," says Amatura, who initially thought there was a gas leak.
Amatura says it was terrifying. "I was able to make it down the stairs. I walked down 78 flights of stairs with my colleagues. I saw firefighters walking up the stairs," says Amatura. She says that's why Tunnels to Towers is important to her. "Stephen Stiller, who the foundation was formed after, literally laid down his life for people he did not know. He was going to play golf with his family that day. Instead, he strapped on 60 pounds worth of gear and ran from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel to the Twin Towers. He went to save people and did not make it out," explains Amatura. She admires the firefighters who went up reassured her and others they'd be okay.
Amatura says she started to get worried when she felt the impact of the second plane hitting the towers. "I was on the 50th floor, and we started to understand the magnitude of what was going on. It was very crowded, it was very hot, there were a lot of fumes from the jet fuel, but I never thought the towers were going to come down, and the people I was with didn't think that. That kept me from panicking. As we made our way to the mezzanine level before we had to go back down under to come back up on street level, there was just terrifying experiences of what we saw. I felt like I was in a movie," says Amatura. She says when she got out, she saw others jumping from the towers, which was heartbreaking to her. "I thought what was their choice at that point that the better choice was to jump," she pondered.
Amatura says she's grateful to have survived, not knowing at the time she was pregnant. "I found out on September 13th we were expecting again, so the fact that I was able to go on and raise a family and have children, it's such a gift," says Amatura.
She says the hardest part now is thinking how her daughter could have been without her mother or younger sister.
