Escaping terror

Mike Weichman, an IU alumnus, had an office with an unbeatable view. Looking out the windows of the 81st floor of One World Trade Center, he would see the Statue of Liberty rising above a sparkling Hudson Bay. He resigned from his job at the beginning of September. Several days later, he would stand on the roof of his apartment building, adjacent to the Empire State building and Times Square, and survey the wreckage of the World Trade Centers.\nHe watched as black smoke billowed, clinging to the city and obstructing the skyline. The city was eerily silent -- completely void of the honking and shouting associated with New York.\nHis friend and ex-coworker, Sujo John, didn't have the nauseating luxury of observing the aftermath. He was preoccupied with getting out of Tower 1 before it collapsed.\n"There was a loud crash and lots of smoke, fire…we were all crouching down on the floor until we heard the steel beams creaking from the ceiling about to cave in. That's when we got up and started running," John said.\nHe and his coworkers attempted to make their way down 81 flights of narrow stairs. He told them if they wanted to save themselves, start chanting "Jesus." Everyone did.\n"When you are near death, believe me some people are so ready to accept our Jesus," John said.\nThey navigated through smoke, assisted only by the lights that had not short-circuited. When John got to the bottom, the ceiling started to collapse. Glass, concrete and flames rained down, striking many around him. He remained unscathed.\nPicking his way over to a surviving FBI agent, he grabbed his hand and said, "God, if it's your will, show us out of this place."\nThey walked through walls of white ash until they spotted a flashing ambulance light that led them out of the building. The FBI agent went back in to help more people, but the tower collapsed minutes afterwards.\nJohn got on a bus parked nearby to get a few minutes of fresh air. His throat and lungs were coated with soot and ash, as was the atmosphere outside the bus. He was devastated; he had made it out of the building, but his pregnant wife, Mary, had worked in Two World Trade Center. \nWhat he didn't know was that her bus had been running five minutes late that morning, so she never made it into the building before it collapsed. She would later tell John she had run from the building, covering her womb to protect their child from the people stampeding down the streets. She glanced back long enough to see people jumping from Tower One, the north tower. She had also thought her husband was dead. \nWhen John got out of the bus, a reporter shoved a microphone and camera into his face. \n"I was still under the impression my wife was dead," John said. "I told him to go away; people were dying. The cameras were a help, though, because my family saw me running and knew I was okay."\nAs soon as John contacted his family and found out his wife was okay, he tried to meet her on the other side of the bridge the only way available: the ferry. There he encountered Weichman and his girlfriend, who were also trying to get a ride out of the city. \nWeichman said everyone was waiting semi-patiently and then they suddenly began to panic.\n"It was mass chaos. People were shoving through the blockades and packing themselves onto the boat," Weichman said. "I'll admit, I was one of them. I wanted to leave."\nEven though Weichman was in New York City Sept. 11, what happened still hasn't become a reality for him.\n"I guess it still hasn't hit me because everyone I know made it out alive, you know? I mean, it can happen to anyone at any time. You can't live your life in fear," Weichman said.\nJohn said one of the most sad parts of the day was when people would come running up to him, shaking his shoulders, asking which floor he'd come from and if he knew their loved ones.\n"I felt bad. There were 50,000 people in that building -- I didn't know them all by name. But I knew what they were going through. We were all in shock," John said. "Now people have been asking: Why did it happen? Where was God when this happened? Evil people did this. God had no part in it. He received the dead and saved others. God is there for people who are hurting."\nJohn now travels around the country, giving unpaid speeches to churches, school and other events. Mary is due any day now.