Will Jimeno, New York/New Jersey Port Authority Policeman and father to an Auburn freshman, spoke to an audience at the Auburn University Hotel to share his 9/11 survival story that shook his world as he lay in a 30-feet deep hole for 13 hours, covered in concrete with an uncertain future.
Amelia Lanier, Women’s Philanthropy Board mentor, said she was living in New York and was exiting the subway when the attacks occurred.
“We began to absorb the harsh reality of those attacks,” Lanier said. “We realized too that from that day onward our lives were forever changed.”
Jimeno said when the Port Authority officers got off the bus and onto the city blocks, his team of four all prepared to enter the buildings as thousands of people ran out of the towers.
“I’m not going to lie, I was scared,” Jimeno said. “I could feel the fear in my chest.”
Jimeno said he remembers seeing people jump out of the buildings and knew families would be torn apart from the events of that day.
“The one thing I remember is the sound, a distinct sound of something dropping,” Jimeno said. “But there was a sound difference between the concrete hitting the ground and a human being…that sound was something that was driving me crazy.”
Jimeno said he could have sworn he saw light from outside, but knew he had to keep his promise to his team to stay together no matter what happened.
“All I see is a huge fireball the size of my house coming toward the lobby,” Jimeno said. “We started running and that’s the first time I said to myself, ‘Will, what did you get yourself into?’”
Jimeno said he was in the South Tower when it collapsed, leaving him crushed by a concrete wall after noticing the elevator shafts buckling.
“I ended up on my back in a 45 degree position…I’m yelling…after a while my helmet gets ripped off completely, chin strap and all and all I can do is hold on for dear life,” Jimeno said. “It sounds like a million freight trains coming down on you and then everything stops.”
After both towers collapsed, Jimeno said he and Sergeant John McLoughlin, fellow Port Authority officer, were the only survivors from his team.
“At that point I wanted to die," Jimeno said. "We had been crushed, burned, shot at and lost really good friends and I just wanted it to be over.”
He screamed in pain as he was rescued that night by United States Marines, who only saw him once he was able to get enough spit on his hand to reveal a small piece of his concrete-caked skin, according to Jimeno.
“They pulled me out…and that was the first time I cried that day because I asked ‘where is everything’…and that’s when a firefighter said ‘it’s all gone’,” Jimeno said.
Jimeno said he cried for the second time that day at the hospital, where he flat-lined twice, at 11 p.m. upon realizing how many were killed or still trapped.
“There was nobody there,” Jimeno said. “There was just doctors and nurses standing around and I said ‘where is everyone’ and they said ‘you’re it’.”
Marianne Hudson, raptor education specialist, brought Spirit, the bald eagle we see fly around Jordan-Hare Stadium in the fall, to the stage and said he got his name after the 9/11 attacks.
“He was renamed Spirit because of everything that Will spoke about and all the things that this bird means to the people of the United States.” Hudson said.
Jimeno said he would never let anyone forget what his team did, especially Dominick Pezzulo who died trying to help him escape the debris of the first tower’s collapse.
“One of the things as a survivor that I promised myself and those that we lost was that I would never let anyone forget what happened during the events of 9/11 and that’s why I tell everyone that to reach your goals then all you need is faith, hope and love,” Jimeno said.
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