“So I made the quick decision to take the stairs. I knew it would be exhausting, but I would get out of the building quicker than waiting for an elevator. As I made my way towards the stairs I was abruptly plunged to the ground, my head hitting the ground with great force. I lay there for a minute in confusion about what just happened. I later figured out that it was caused by the second plane that crashed into my work building, the south tower at ‘9:03’ (VFW). When I finally got myself to my feet, I was stumbling around trying to find anything to help me with my balance. The room was black from so much smoke. The windows were shattered and the office was destroyed. When I finally came to I rushed to the stairs, I could barely see there was so much smoke. I needed to get out of there so I ran as quickly as I could down three flights of stairs. The thick black smoke was making it harder and harder for me to breathe. As I ran down the fourth flight of stairs, still a long way to go, I encountered a man who had a pipe laid across