SHaron Premori is a man who came to her rescue whenshe somehow survived the collapse. never thought of that. 9} North Tower of the World Trade Center.
And that Good Samaritan,The New Yorker Fred Hill never stopped thinking of her.
On her first anniversary of the Al Qaeda attack that killed nearly 3,000 of her she sent him a small Tiffany & Co. silver tray . Words from the Talmud. "To save a life is to save a world."
They lost contact after that, but each went on with his own life and, like many others, shuddered. I tried to get through, or at least deal with, the events that would have happened.
On his 20th, the anniversary of last year, Mr. Hill, with the help of his partner Simone della Valle, made a special effort to track down Mr. Premori. Della Valle did some research online and found an article published by Premori called The Independent
. ] The phone rang," Premori said this week. "I asked him who it was and he said 'Fred Hill.'"
She added: my girlfriend found you I said to him, "He can't remember 9/11 without thinking about you," and he said he felt the same way. It was extraordinary.
9/11: What Bystanders Saw
Premori's published report of her survival says she climbed up the North Tower atrium from her office on the 80th floor as people sang hymns and firefighters climbed up. . The tower then collapsed.
"When I came to my senses, I was aware that it was pitch black, complete blackness as one could imagine being buried alive," she wrote. 48}
Her description, part of a memoir she planned to publish once the 9/11 lawsuit was completed, was that she was limping, bleeding and dazed in the streets of Lower Manhattan, It ended with a broken ankle and a burnt lung. Her body was full of debris.
But her story didn't end there. As Ms. Premori was shuffling down Hudson Street, where there was an apartment on the block, Ms. Hill, who was out on the street, saw her staggering north. he didn't know her But he knew she needed help.
``Fred Hill and his wife were my saviors. made me wait 12 hours at their apartment while friends from Boston picked me up," she said. "Total strangers. They just ran me off the street."
Sharon Premori reported her dramatic escape to The Independent magazine.
(Sharon Premori)
・I was able to get word that her mother was alive on the 80th floor of the North Tower where she worked for Financial Systems.
Most phone lines from New York were out of action, but it was possible to make calls. Hill's daughter, who lived in Washington, D.C., was equally worried about him, given how close his apartment was. She went to the Twin Towers.
During these calls, Mr. Hill asked his daughter to give him the phone number of Mr. Premori's daughter, Sasha, who was living in Los Angeles at the time, and to let her know what had happened.
Mr. Hill, 71, who now lives in Arizona, said the phone call between his two daughters was very emotional.
He said: "Their conversation was, 'Hello, you don't know me. My name is Adrian Hill, but your mother is fine. And Sharon. 's daughter started screaming, "How do you know that?" said her daughter. that's okay. she is with my father My father has an apartment in New York. And they both started crying and sobbing.
Sharon Premoli was on the 80th floor of the North Tower when the attack occurred
(Getty Images)
Mr. Hill, a 71-year-old former police officer with a son and now working in personal finance at Coastline Wealth Management, said he and his ex-wife were insane. I didn't realize that I had done it, and said it was a matter of course. He is called a "rescuer" by Mr. Premori.
"It was not a rescue," he said. "I was the only one who saw someone suffer when the world seemed to be turned upside down."
But the two had only spent 12 hours with each other. Nonetheless, we agreed that the intensity of the situation left us with a deep connection.
"I believe that experiencing such things puts a memory mark on the soul," he said.
“And [then] going through it with her….I feel closer to her than some of the people I have known in my life. Because there is something that man cannot speak of.We had a terrible experience, part of it together, and we both came out from the other side.
Mr. Hill and his partner Simone della Valle followed Mr. Premori for the first time in 20 years
(Fred Hill )
When I read Ms. Premori's description and spoke with her on her 20th anniversary, Ms. Hill said that the woman he helped had spent most of the past 20 years thinking about what had happened.
She is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit alleging Saudi officials aided hijackers, 15 of whom are from the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia has repeatedly denied the allegations, and did so again on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.
Hill and Premoli, who now live in Vermont, said they would never lose contact again.
"I have a best friend in Vermont, actually I have two now," Hill said, adding that he hopes to see him next year. .
"As I said, it was a wonderful experience. People say, 'There is always good out of evil.' The good thing is that I got to meet Sharon.
Mr. Hill pictured walking his dog outside his apartment the day after 9/11.
(Fred Hill)
He said another positive thing he got from the episode happened later in the day. .
On the night of 9/11 Mr. Hill walked south to the site of the collapsed tower. This area later became known as "Ground Zero". He said paramedics have set up a command post and are looking for volunteers to go look for survivors.
"The street was jam-packed, which meant 10 people lined up shoulder to shoulder. There were literally hundreds, maybe thousands, quietly waiting to sign up. , I was trying to help with whatever I could," he said.
"Okay, it's going to be hard, but I thought I could get through it. Come to think of it, they were trying to do what I did to Sharon in a much bigger way."