LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Erik Bell’s first day of a three-week training in the World Trade Center was Sept. 10, 2001.
That night, the Louisville financial advisor visited Times Square and watched Monday night football with colleagues. The next day, his life and America would be changed forever.
What You Need To Know
- Erik Bell was in the World Trade Center for a three-week training during 9/11
- He was on the 62nd floor of the South Tower when the first plane crashed
- Initially, Bell thought a bomb caused the chaos in the North Tower
- He was on the 20th floor when the second plane crashed into the building he was in
On Sept. 11, the second day of training, he was on a break on the 62nd floor of the World Trade Center when he heard what sounded like a transformer blowing up.
“We were seeing papers flying through the air and that was very odd to be that high up and see things on fire,” Bell said. “I looked down in the window and it looked like a big ball of fire about the size of an SUV in the street.”
He wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew he had to get out of the building. He found the stairway crowded with people, confusion and questions.
When he got to the 20th floor, he knew.
“The plane hit our building and the stairways swayed and you saw plaster on the walls cracking,” Bell said.
Confusion turned into panic, and he didn’t just see papers falling from the above. He saw people jumping from the building.
On the 10th floor, he saw smoke coming down and firemen running up.
“You never know if some of these gentlemen made it out of there or not,” Bell said.
He thought all of the chaos was caused by a bombing. It wasn’t until he made it out of the building that he learned planes crashed into the building.
"By the time I ran down 62 flights of stairs my legs, cramped, like no other pain I had, until I had COVID and being on a ventilator for seven days and the pain that I had in my legs, recovering from that,” Bell recalled.
In pain from the flights of stairs plus all of the walking and exercise from the day before and in disbelief, he made the phone call that thousands never got to make.
“I was very fortunate that I was able to tell my parents that I was safe,” Bell said.
Vivid memories and pictures from a throwaway camera are all he has from that day, but he’s gained so much after.
“Everything that I've been through since then, I’ve lived really a fairytale life,” Bell said.
In the years after 9/11, he met his wife Latasha. They now have two children: Darius and Amelia.
“I'm a very happy man. I’m very lucky. I’ve been blessed over my life, very fortunate,” Bell said.
Although his life has been good, he’ll never forget running for his life and those who didn’t make it out in time on that day in September.
“I look back on it and I still have a lot of the same feelings I had back then. I hate that for those who lost their loved ones that they still have questions that will probably never be answered,” says Bell.
Bell, his wife and daughter took a trip to New York City and visited ground zero on the 15th anniversary of 9/11.