Retired NYFD Lt. shares 9/11 survival story

ATTICA—Retired New York Fire Department Lt. and 9/11 survivor, Joe Torrillo, shared his story with the Attica community on Wednesday evening at Seneca East Local School. As part of the school's commitment to honor the heroes and survivors of Sept. 11, 2001, a week of remembrance is being hosted, which includes 9/11 World Memorial Project 2978 crafted by Mitch Mendler, and a presentation from Torrillo of New Jersey, who also spent time with the students at the school. Torrillo travels the world as a professional speaker, sharing his amazing story of strength and courage as he survived being buried alive in not only one of the Twin Towers but both of them as they collapsed. Torrillo is on a quest to make the country the "Re-United States of America," resurrecting patriotism, trumpeting the men and women of the Armed Services, mentoring adolescents, and inspiring audiences of all sizes to embrace change and never give up on their dreams. "It's with deep gratitude that I accepted this invitation to come here," Torrillo said. "I'm really, really happy and grateful that you all came out to come and see me." Torrillo began his story by explaining the company Fisher Price's toy collection called Rescue Heroes. In 2000, Fisher Price contacted Torrillo in regard to partnering with him to create a character in his image. He said he planned to use the money from it to put toward his fire prevention education program, which aimed to reduce the number of fires and fatalities in the area. He completed this within schools throughout New York City. "So in any event, in January 2001, at the end of the month, I set up a meeting in headquarters with the Fisher Price executives," he explained. "They came with the artists, illustrators, and toy designers—and for a whole day, as I'm speaking about what a firefighter looks like with his firefighting clothing, his Scott Airpack, his tools and equipment—the artists and illustrators had art pairs on easels with crayons and markers. As I'm speaking, they're drawing. At the end of the day, they had this new action figure called Billy Blazes, a New York City firefighter." Torrillo said he and the company planned to officially launch Billy Blazes on September 11, 2001, to promote a 911 themed Safety Day, and talk about preventing and surviving fires, all while introducing the new rescue hero. "So, ladies and gentlemen, on September 11, 2001 at nine in the morning, every TV station, every newspaper reporter, the mayor, the city council (and) the Fisher Price executives were waiting for me in Rockefeller Center next to Radio City Music Hall to introduce a new rescue hero called Billy Blazes," Torrillo continued. "I grabbed my car keys and my telephone, and I put my dress uniform on—and one of the college kids (that I taught) came running back into my office and he said, 'a plane just hit the World Trade Center.'" After hearing this news, Torrillo said his initial thoughts were, "What is this? Is this a joke? A hoax? Is this a simulation? A movie?" "I zoomed out of headquarters, and two blocks away, I was on the Brooklyn Bridge going into Manhattan," he said. "As I'm racing over the bridge, I'm looking to the left, and I see about ten floors of a fire on the top of the North Tower. Now, I realized this was no little Piper Cub, and I got to make an impromptu decision. What do I do? Do I make a right and go to the press conference? Or I make a left and get to my firehouse and jump into action?" Torrillo made the decision to go to the firehouse and gear up to attend the scene. "I was running to the north tower, but I had to pass the south tower first," he said. "I heard a roar and I looked up and the second jet, United Airlines flight 175, came right over my head and I saw it hit the tower and then just disappear like a magic act. "As I'm outside the South Tower, I heard a rumble and a roar," Torrillo continued. "I turned up and the building is coming down." In less than an hour and 55 minutes after being struck, the tower was already coming down in a pancake type of collapse. As Torrillo started running to a footbridge toward the front of the towers, he said he could feel air pressure on the back of his neck from each floor of the towers collapsing. "I knew that I probably wouldn't survive, but I was afraid that my body would never be found and identified," he said. "And then the air pressure got so strong, the estimate was like 200 miles an hour, like a tornado gust. It picked me off my feet and I was flying through the air. I never made it to the footbridge. A piece of steel hit me and split the back of my head wide open and huge slabs of concrete were just hitting my body. With every slab of concrete, more and more bones are breaking. Now I got a fractured skull, my ribs are broken, my left arm is snapped in half, my neck and spine is crushed and I'm bleeding internally—and I'm buried under all the twisted steel and concrete with all these other people. In the pitch blackness, you could see nothing. It was dark as at midnight, I couldn't breathe, I was suffocating." As Torrillo's life and career flashed before his eyes, he said he took what he thought were his last couple of breaths before a rescue team found a void within the rubble he was buried in. "They found four of us in the void and they dug us out, and they put me on a long spine board, and they ran to the Hudson River," he said. "Boats had come over from New Jersey into Manhattan, and they put me on the deck of a boat…I heard them saying that I was going to die if they couldn't get me to a hospital." He said the north tower started to collapse and flew across the street towards the river, resulting in millions of shards of glass dropping down on the deck of the boat like hail. "Everybody on the boat jumped overboard into the river," he said. "And I broke free from the spine board. I ripped the tape off of my neck. I rolled off. I couldn't see. My eyes were swollen shut and I just felt the doorway, jumped into the doorway. But I ended up diving 10 feet below headfirst into the engine room, and the north tower fell on top of the boat. And I'm buried and suffocating all over again. After about an hour, I was starting to lose consciousness. I'm suffocating. There's no way, no more light. And on the deck of the boat, I heard people jumping on the boat. And somebody came into the engine room to start the mode and they found me, and he called up to the deck above the captain." The boat skipped across the river to New Jersey and paramedics on the Jersey side jumped onto the boat, where Torrillo was brought to another spine board. "They lifted me out feet first of the little cubby hole that leads to the engine room," he said. "And I'm in an ambulance, but I don't know where I am. I'm in another state. I'm in New Jersey. I blacked out and I woke up." Torrillo said he was the last firefighter to be found alive from this traumatic event. "People realize, ladies and gentlemen, that Superman's not real. Batman is not real. Spiderman is not real," he said. "The only children's rescue hero who ever came to life was Billy Blazes on the morning of Sept. 11, when he would come to represent the 343 firefighters who made the supreme sacrifice of their life and left me behind to tell the story." After his presentation, Torrillo was awarded the Ohio State House of Representatives Accommodation from State Rep. Gary Click (R-Vickery), who also presented the award to Mendler. In addition to Torrillo's story, the Color Guard from Northern Ohio F.O.O.L.S., Fraternal Order of the Leatherheads Society hosted a bell ceremony, a 200-year-old tradition. Tolling of the Bell was a sign of honor and respect for the firefighters who had made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives protecting those around them. Seneca East middle and high school choir also performed the "National Anthem" and "You Raise Me Up" during the ceremony, under the direction of Kim Spencer. "Amazing Grace" was performed by John McGlashan on the bagpipes, state highway patrol officer of the Sandusky Post.