MORABITO BROTHERS

AFTER BOTH JOHN & MICHEAL MORABITO, FIREFIGHTERS IN LADDER 10, BOTH SURVIVED THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOUTH TOWER ON 9/11, THEY DESPERATELY SEARCHED FOR EACH OTHER AMIDST THE CHAOS, UNAWARE OF THE OTHER’S FATE

There’s people coming down the stairs, they’re crying, some of them are actually burned, some of them are bleeding from debris that hit them. It was like someone was dropping some heavy equipment and it was coming frequently. People were jumping from the floors above and now we realize that the situation upstairs was very grim. I believed that somewhere within all of the chaos is my younger brother, Michael.

I’m in the pitch black darkness. Now i’m starting to panic because I can’t find my way out. I see a light and it’s a sign from god. Here’s a light, follow the light you are going to be okay.

With the clock ticking, I’m still desperately searching for Michael. I’m sick to my stomach and I’m thinking I’m not gonna be able to go home, he’s my younger brother, I love him so much and we have such a tight knit family. I’m thinking to myself, I gotta find him. Whatever it takes, I gotta find him.” I look at the list of official missing firefighters and my brother’s name is on it. So now I’m really starting to panic.

My mouth is dried out, my eyes are itching because of the dust and smoke. I happen to look up and see a fire hydrant. Suddenly I spotted a familiar face and I look up, my brother walks in front of me. I'm like 'This is amazing, how is this even possible.' I got him in my arms and ‘I love you so much and I can finally call home and tell them were both alright, we both made it”

We headed up West Street as far as we could. I don't really know what street we were on. We grabbed all our gear and started walking to the building, towards the towers. We were probably about a block away when we heard a giant rumbling sound. It sounded like jets were going overhead and then we looked up. And we saw the tower start to fall and we just ran.

We outran the dust cloud and got back in the rig. As soon as we closed the doors on the rig we got hit with the second cloud and then it was pitch black for like five minutes. I made a decision in my mind, that John’s probably dead. Still alive, John’s brother Michael. He too believes his brother is dead. John’s dead, he’s gone and uh I have to do my job. And if I think about John…”

And then when everything settled down a little bit we grabbed our gear again and proceeded to head toward the Trade Center again.We didn't know where to go. I look up and I see my brother drinking from a fire hydrant. When I found him, I had the weight of the world off my shoulders. So I said alright John, you good, you safe? He said yeah, I said alright I have to go back in there."

There’s people coming down the stairs, they’re crying, some of them are actually burned, some of them are bleeding from debris that hit them. It was like someone was dropping some heavy equipment and it was coming frequently. Boom boom” people were jumping from the floors above and now we realize that the situation upstairs was very grim. I believed that somewhere within all of the chaos is my younger brother, Michael.

I feel a tremendous rush of air, I feel heat, I feel ash. I get picked up off the floor and i’m flying into the air and i’m screaming at the top of my lungs ‘God please save me, I don’t want to die.’

I’m in the pitch black darkness, screaming ‘help me, help me’. Now i’m starting to panic because I can’t find my way out. I see a light and it’s a sign from god. Here’s a light, follow the light you are going to be okay. I’m screaming to everyone, 'run run' , and everybody’s yelling and we start running. It's a nuclear winter, there's ash everywhere, we can't see anything and it's total silence.

That was my first thought, if people made it to the lower levels now they can’t get out, theyre gonna be running out of air, our responsibility is saving lives and that’s what we want to do. The odds are stacked against us and we’re just trying to do the best that we could. And we know we are gonna have people who are gonna be in serious trouble and we have to get to those people.”

We headed up West Street as far as we could. I don't really know what street we were on. We grabbed all our gear and started walking to the building, towards the towers. We were probably about a block away when we heard a giant rumbling sound. It sounded like jets were going overhead and then we looked up and we saw the tower start to fall and we just ran.

We outran the dust cloud and got back in the rig. As soon as we closed the doors on the rig we got hit with the second cloud and then it was pitch black for like five minutes.

And then when everything settled down a little bit we grabbed our gear again and proceeded to head toward the Trade Center again.We didn't know where to go. We were waiting to respond. We had no orders by anybody yet.

They speak about the golden hour, you know if you can get to someone within the hour, there’s a better chance they will survive.

With the clock ticking, I’m still desperately searching for Michael. I’m sick to my stomach and I’m thinking I’m not gonna be able to go home, he’s my younger brother, I love him so much and we have such a tight knit family. How am I gonna go home and face it? We’re never going to be the same, this is gonna tear us apart, it’s gonna tear the whole family apart. I’m thinking to myself, I gotta find him. Whatever it takes, I gotta find him.”

I look at the list of official missing firefighters and my brother’s name is on it. So now I’m really starting to panic.

"MY MOUTH IS DRIED OUT, MY EYES ARE ITCHING BECAUSE OF THE DUST AND SMOKE. I HAPPEN TO LOOK UP AND ON THE WEST STREET I SEE A FIRE HYDRANT."

"I MADE A DECISION IN MY MIND, THAT JOHN’S PROBABLY DEAD. JOHN’S DEAD, HE’S GONE AND UH I HAVE TO DO MY JOB. AND IF I THINK ABOUT JOHN…”

"SUDDENLY I SPOTTED A FAMILIAR FACE"

"AND I LOOK UP, MY BROTHER WALKS IN FRONT OF ME. I’M LIKE ‘THIS IS AMAZING, HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE’. I JUMP UP AND CALL HIM”

"AND IT WAS LIKE OH MY GOD YOU’RE ALIVE"