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The
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Vulnerability to further attacks
WTC Tenants:
'Survivor syndrome' explained
'False memory syndrome' explained
International Court of Justice
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NEW YORK -- Two months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, one British survivor is still amazed by his miraculous escape, but remains fearful about further attacks. Attack on the North TowerWhen American Airlines Flight 11 ploughed into the northern aspect of WTC One (North Tower) on 11th September, 62-year old naval architect, George Sleigh, was in a north-facing office on the telephone to a colleague. Within two hours, he was scrambling for his very survival, and the Twin Towers were humbled to a pile of rubble. Incredibly, George witnessed the aircraft heading towards his building when it was just two to three plane lengths away. “It was quite a shock to see a large passenger plane that close to the building. Almost immediately upon me seeing it, the plane hit the building,” he says. The Boeing 767, on a scheduled flight from Boston to Los Angeles, was re-routed by hijackers towards its Lower Manhattan target some 30 minutes after take-off. It is estimated to have struck the North Tower between the levels of 93rd - 103rd floors. George works for the American Bureau of Shipping; its suite of offices was on the 91st floor, immediately to the left of the impact zone (see Escape route graphic). It took George 50 minutes to descend the 91 storeys to safety within a northern stairwell. Believing that it was an accident, he had no idea of the scale or scope of events going on inside the building above him. Neither did he know that whilst in the stairwell, a second hijacked plane, United Airlines Flight 175, had been flown into the South Tower. That was, until he reached the Plaza level. “It was like a scene out of Beirut. Piles of debris all over and fires burning everywhere you looked,” he says. As George was moving away from the building, an explosion blew him across the concourse. The ensuing cloud of dust and debris enveloped him, adhering to his sprinkler-sodden clothes, hair and skin (see photo). He also sustained lacerations to his leg during the blast and was rushed to nearby Beth Israel Medical Center – literally, within minutes of the South Tower collapsing. Paradoxically, George believes that the 1993 bombing of the Twin Towers prepared him for the September attack. “In 1993, I learned that I just had to get out and away from the building,” he says. At that time, ABS’ corporate office was on the 106th floor of the South Tower. Fortunately for George and his colleagues, the company vacated the floor in December 1999 to move to the North Tower. Had it not done so, none of them would be alive today. Coping StrategiesABS provided a group counselling session for George and the other employees that were affected that day. In it, they were advised how to recognise the signs of depression and what emotions to expect as the weeks and months pan out. Individual counselling sessions were also made available, but George has declined them. “I’m coping fine and I don’t think that I need that,” he says. Instead, George formulated his own strategy for balance and perspective. He wrote a detailed account of everything that had happened, as soon as he arrived home from the hospital. That way, he could rely upon his own experiences and memories, rather than those played out in the media. “By documenting what did happen, you avoid getting uptight and overwrought by ‘what if’ scenarios,” he explains. A sense of humour has also helped. He currently works at a makeshift office in New Jersey. It measures just 12 x 12 feet to accommodate his department of six people. George jokes that it only works because they lost all their filing cabinets on 11th September! Despite his upbeat exterior, George admits readily that he is a changed person for his ordeal. “When you come face to face with something that could have turned out so very differently, it does change you,” he explains. “I think this tragedy has brought more into focus God’s providence and the fact that I personally experienced my life being spared.” he adds. Justice, not revengeChanged man or not, George Sleigh is unrelenting about the perpetrators of the 11th September attacks. He believes that US forces should be deployed in Afghanistan until they ‘ferret out’ the alleged source of terror – Osama bin Laden. However, he is quick to make the distinction between bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network and the Afghan people. “We need to go after individuals as individuals, not as a nation. This is a personal thing,” he stresses. If bin Laden and his henchmen are captured, George believes that they should be brought to justice and tried fairly and justly. If found guilty of the crimes of 11th September, he believes they should be imprisoned for life, not executed. Vulnerability to further attacksIn the meantime, with anthrax scares continuing unabated across the United States and bin Laden’s global call to Muslims to rise in revenge on the US and its allies, George admits his vulnerability to further attacks. “You can’t let terrorists direct your life, but I do have a constant nagging inside me about what will happen next,” he concedes. The memories came flooding back when, on 12th November, American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board. Although ashamed of his feelings, George admits that he was relieved that preliminary investigations point to technical failure, and not terrorist attack. 16th November 2001 |
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