Thursday marks the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that saw two planes flown into the Twin Towers in New York, killing nearly 3,000.
Kevin Danni was there. The St. Francis High graduate and father of Golden Knights linebacker Luke Danni reflects back every anniversary on how he escaped from the 61st floor of the South Tower.
“I’m so lucky there were so many who sacrificed to save me,” he said.
Danni told his story to a rapt audience earlier this week at a meeting of the YMCA of the Foothills QB Club, where he is president.
He was 22 years old, a recent graduate of Occidental College and had been sent to Morgan Stanley in New York to begin training at the Twin Towers on Sept. 10, 2001. The next morning, a training meeting ended up being 15 minutes late because a speaker went too long, so during a break, he decided not to go to the observation deck on the 107th floor.
Instead, he looked out a window and saw what he thought was confetti flying around, It was papers from the aftermath of a plane running into the North Tower. Soon he saw a fire. At first, evacuation from the South Tower was not recommended. But Danni said the head of security, Rick Rescorla, overrode orders and told everyone to leave.
When Danni reached the 55th floor walking down the stairs, he heard an explosion. “The walls cracked,” he said.
It was a plane hitting the South Tower.
“I knew it was a terrorist attack,” he said. “I started to descend and passed firefighters going up the stairs. It took 45 minutes to evacuate.”
When he went outside, he said, “I saw both on fire.”
He went to find a pay phone so he could call his loved ones and tell them he was OK. Then the towers started to collapse.
“I heard a rumble,” he said. “It was 57 minutes since the plane hit. I saw the dust cloud. I turned and ran.”
Danni said he learned the security man, Rescorla, after escorting employees outside, went back up to make sure all had been evacuated from the office. The security man and 343 firefighters perished trying to help others.
“I got to see so many acts of heroism,” Danni said.
He was dating his future wife, Helena, at the time. They eventually married and their son, Luke, was born. This week he’ll be having fun watching Luke play quarterback for St. Francis on Friday night against Muir.
“Every 9/11, he says, ‘Dad, I’m glad you’re here,’” Kevin said.
This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.
