Amy Ngai took her breakfast and lunch with her to the 19th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. She arrived early and was eating her breakfast before work started at 8:30 a.m. A call came in about something being sent by fax. With only one machine in her office, she ventured to the other side of the building to retrieve the fax.
“When I touched the paper, [it was] shaking,” Ngai said. She kneeled down and looked at the window. “Everything is coming down.”
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American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.
Ngai said while she was kneeling, she was praying, asking Him to save her.
As debris rained down, Ngai said she made her way to the stairwell and made it to the 14th floor before she remembered her lunch.
She returned to the 19th floor.
“I don’t know why I went back,” she said, but she found two coworkers hiding under her desk.
She remembers asking, “Why are you hiding?” before encouraging them to leave.
Another worker told her to wait on security, but Ngai followed her instincts back to the stairwell. She didn’t lock the door to her office. She just went.
A floor down, someone handed her a wet towel to cover her mouth and nose.
Keep going
With a leg problem, Ngai couldn’t run but she kept going. She took her high heel shoes off but the glass and other debris were hurting her feet. So, she put her shoes back on and kept going down. She made it out of the building and to Chinatown.
Out of breath, Ngai saw that one of the towers had collapsed.
This week was the first time Ngai has returned to Ground Zero.
“I’m so scared to come over here again,” she said, but with the encouragement of her grandson, Ngai made the trip.
Ngai promised God if He would help her survive that she would serve Him. She serves with her church through the senior center and teaching English.
‘Do not fear’
She referenced God’s presence in Isaiah 41:10. The verse says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.”
“God is the best. The most important thing is … to praise the Lord,” she said.
