September 11 Terrorist Attack, 2001

This episode of I Was Actually There offers a range of unique perspectives on the events of September 11, from expatriates, family members, journalists, photographers and first responders.

In a single morning, they found themselves at the epicentre of a catastrophe that changed their lives forever.

James Dorney was working on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center South Tower. He saw the North Tower erupt before his eyes: "There's no other way to explain it. I was actually looking out the window. The building in front of me exploded right in front of my face." Unaware it had been hit by a plane, he began the harrowing descent down the emergency stairs, confused, panicked, determined to escape. He was in the stairwell when the second plane hit.

While most were running away, Channel Ten correspondent Michelle Stone, in New York for the US Open, raced toward the chaos. Mike Makatron, a twentysomething Aussie working as a bike courier, remembers youthful curiosity kicking in as smoke poured from the towers: "My mentality was: bike messengers get in everywhere … I'm going to go in there and check it out. I'm going to get inside those buildings."

Danielle Meredith sprinted across the Brooklyn Bridge, desperate to reach her husband, who was on the 94th floor of the North Tower. Blocked by frightened New Yorkers rushing the other way, she returned to her apartment, eyes glued to the TV.

"Everybody remembers what they were doing at that exact moment in time," says New Yorker Genevieve Gyulavary, whose Australian father went to work in the Twin Towers and never came home. "But I don't care because my dad was dying … I don't really care that you were eating Wheaties or whatever you were doing."

Interviewees:

James Dorney Australian working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower
Danni Meredith Australian widow of Craig Gibson, who was in the North Tower
Genevieve Gyulavary Was 13 when she learned her Australian dad was killed in the towers
Michelle Stone Channel Ten foreign correspondent
Hans Kunnen Australian economist attending a conference in the North Tower
Paul Bernasconi Australian businessman living in New York
Mike Makatron Bike courier who rode toward the towers
Luis Torres FDNY Squad 41; spent seven months recovering bodies
Nathan Edwards Australian news photographer who captured an image of Luis Torres at Ground Zero