NEW YORK, NY — Tomorrow as we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks, we are reflecting with Oklahomans impacted by that day.
September 11th, 2001, will forever be etched in the minds of a former, Tulsa couple who lived through the tragedy and is still working to process those horrific events.
The day that America lost its innocence, is the day that Brian Boyd will never forget.
“It's very fresh. As I'm telling you the story, I am seeing things and smelling things and it’s very fresh," says Boyd.
It was September 11th, 2001, and Boyd was working at his office on Wall Street not far from the World Trade Center.
His wife had just dropped off their children at school and she was headed to meet a friend for lunch.
“On their way they got hung up because they met a friend they hadn’t seen in years, and because they stopped there and talked, they weren’t further along when the first plane flew over their head and went into the tower," he says.
That's when he says his wife, Fran ran back to the school to get their kids.
On the way she called to tell him about the plane crashing into the first tower.
"I look outside, and i just see papers flying through the air, can you imagine just papers flying?," he says.
Stunned, he scrambled to get out of his office and find his family.
"I ran downstairs outside the building to find Fran when the first tower fell and the whole ground shook," says Boyd.
Smoke filled the air and began to envelope the people around it and that's when he says everyone began to run.
"A few moments later, we slowed down and started walking again and then the second tower fell," he says.
September 11th, 2001 not only changed Brian and his family's life, but it changed the face of a nation.
"That morning on 9-11 we went to work and school as normal and didn’t step back into our house until Christmas," he says.
The reason being is because their home was inside the perimeter that authorities set up as a crime scene.
Now - 20 years later, he is reflecting on that day and often wonders why he and his family were spared.
"There were a lot of decisions made that day. Why did Fran stop and talk to a girlfriend, and why did I run a certain direction... and for us that’s faith," he says.
Brian's wife, Fran developed breast cancer a short time after the twin towers fell.
They say because of the World Trade Center Health Program that was set up to help first responders, survivors, and residents - her medical costs were covered. Today, she has recovered and is healthy.
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