Canadian survivor of 9/11 terror attacks tells his story

This story contains details that may be disturbing to some readers. Discretion advised.

Brian Clark doesn’t like to call himself “lucky,” but he says he’s grateful he’s alive after escaping the World Trade Center on Sept. 11.

“I prefer to think about it as fortunate and blessed,” Clark told Global News.

As people prepare to mark the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, Clark said he tells his story whenever asked because he wants people to understand the experience and the loss.

About 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, Clark was in his office in the South Tower of the World Trade Center when he heard a noise.

“Boom, boom, this loud noise, the lights above flickered what the heck is that as I looked up and my peripheral vision, I spun around and right up against the office glass, 84 floors in the air, swirling flames against the glass,” he said.

American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower.

A short time after, Clark saw people so overcome by the flames, they started jumping from the building.

He called his wife, then his father, to tell both he was OK.

Minutes later, at 9:03 a.m., United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower. Clark’s office was on the west side, above the impact.

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“What happened in that first second was our room, exploded is the wrong word because you think of an explosion, I’m just saying everything was destroyed,” Clark said. “Everything rained out of the ceiling, air conditioning ducts, speakers, the works.

“It wasn’t pleasant and for 10 seconds, I was terrified.”

The moments after remain vivid for Clark, who began his escape.

He began descending and encountered various people on the way.

One woman argued he should go up instead of down the stairs. He never saw her again.

He also helped a man on the 81st floor after hearing something.

“I heard this muffled, ‘help, help I’m buried, is anyone there,’” Clark described.

Clark was able to rescue a man. They’re still friends to this day.

They eventually reached the lobby and were told to run and not look up.

“We ran two blocks south and when we, I ran out of gas, stopped running,” he said.

The two men reached a nearby church and finally looked back.

At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed after burning for 56 minutes.

“The building kind of did a little wobble and then straight down, boom, boom, boom,” he said.

The church he had reached with the man he helped in the tower protected the pair from the debris that engulfed the streets as the building collapsed.

Minutes later, as the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., Clark was inside a separate building.

Back home, his wife was sure he’d been killed, and Clark couldn’t call her until much later.

When she answered the phone, the man on the other end of the line said, “Hi, honey.”

“I had no idea what they were going through at home because I was fine,” he said. “I said, ‘Hi, honey, it’s me.’ She fainted on the floor.”

In addition to the two crashes at the World Trade Center complex, one flight hit the Pentagon and another crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pa. In total, 2,996 people died in the crashes and thousands more were injured.

A total of 61 people from his company were killed that day, leaving him with conflicting emotions.

“I am grateful it worked out for me, I’m sad that it didn’t work out for so many other people. But that’s really the emotion I’m left with, mainly the sadness,” Clark said.

—with files from Global News’ Mike Armstrong