For this anniversary, we are offering our readers the personal account of survivor Mikaila Cruz, who escaped from Tower Two after the first plane hit. Mikaila's powerful testimony perfectly conveys the sense of chaos and despair lived by those who witnessed or survived this tragedy.
We would like to thank Mikaila for her kindness and willingness to help.
Undicisettembre: What happened to you on 9/11? Can you give me a general account of what you saw and lived on that day?
Mikaila Cruz: At that time I worked in Tower Two and I was not supposed to be in the building until 9:15, but I was asked to handle a presentation that was being given by the equity managers and bond managers of the company that I was working for, which was a fiduciary trust, an institutional bank. I got there at 8:30 and there were only a few people in the office, in the elevator there were probably six or seven IT professionals that were going to the 98th floor. My office was on the 95th floor, when I got off the elevator and I got to my desk my ex boyfriend called me on the phone. It was around 8:40, he asked me how my day was going and I said “I don't want to talk” because I had broken up with him.
I hung up the phone and then I heard the roar of an airplane engine. When the plane hit I didn't know it was a plane, I thought it was like a bomb. Someone from the opposite side of my floor said “We have to get out of here, I think a plane just hit Tower One”. The windows were from floor to ceiling and the impact shattered them and all of a sudden I felt wind come in from outside, so I immediately grabbed my briefcase, with my laptop still inside, and my purse and I ran towards the stairs. My coworker Lori grabbed me and pulled me into the elevator, I said “In an emergency situation, we cannot take the elevator.” and she said “No, we have to.” We went into the elevator together with another colleague by the name of Andrew and we descended to the 90th floor which housed the legal department and human resources. Another person we knew, Dave, ran in, I looked out into the hallway and I saw people running or being on their phones screaming; nobody came into the elevator, they were just panicked. The elevator doors closed, we went to the 78th floor which was a main elevator bank.
As we got out of the elevator, Andrew and Dave went into other elevators while Lori and I went to one that was directly across from us which had so many people that were pushing each other into it till someone said “No more people, no more people”. We got down to the lobby and Lori ran towards Liberty Street, when she run outside there were burning papers all over and a steel beam on the ground. There were firefighters and a lot of police officers trying to get people away from the building. I looked to my right and I saw my former manager Chris, the one who asked me to come in early that day, so he was already there. He said “Thank God, you're okay”. I called my manager Joanie, who was working from home, and she said “Oh my God, a plane just hit. Get out of the building.” I saw my coworker Roxanne walk into the elevator and I pulled her out, she said “Port Authority said there’s nothing wrong with Tower 2 and that we can get back to work”, I said “No, go home. Go home”.
As soon as I walked out of the building my friend Pete, who was living in Chicago, called me on the phone and said “Are you okay? What happened?” I said “I don't know. I think a plane just hit” My phone went dead and I heard another roar of an airplane engine, and when it hit Tower 2 there was complete pandemonium. People were running for their lives and I was knocked to the ground into a steel barricade that was there. Andrew saw me and he picked me up. When I looked up, I started to see people jumping out of Tower 1. I just got silent, I was looking and I was in shock. He grabbed me and said “We have to go to South Street Seaport.” We went to South Street Seaport and there were many people already. People were on the line online to use the pay phone, because nobody's phone was working. I had a PalmPilot back then, so I emailed my ex boyfriend and said “I'm okay, please let my mom and my brother know that I'm okay.” I was there waiting for Andrew to come back because he was trying to get in touch with his family. After he spoke to his sister and someone else I called him over and at that point the second tower started to collapse. At first it looked like the entire building was going to fall on itself, but then the debris started coming through the streets, and we were hit by a cloud of dust. We were knocked to the ground covered in debris, smoke and dirt. We got back up and we started walking. When we got to 20th Street there were people who were putting cups of water out there on a table for people like us who were walking and trying to get home. Andrew and I just sat there and he said “Do you have any money? Because I need to take the ferry to New Jersey”. I only had 2 dollars in my wallet and I gave them to him. We got to 35th Street and Third Avenue, he went to the entrance of the ferry and I got into a cab to go home.
I told the cab driver “I have no money. I'll go to an ATM.” and he said “That's okay. Don’t worry about it”. Miraculously enough the cab was new. People around us were jumping on top of cars trying to get inside but nobody noticed this cab, it was just by itself. We went over the bridge and he said “You're my first ride today”. I was so angry because I couldn't get in touch with my family, I was confused and I said “I don't care if it's your first ride, I really don't have any money, I'm sorry.” He said “Don’t worry, take care of yourself.” When I looked at the date of his license, it said September 11, 2001, so that really was his first ride ever.
I got to my mom’s home in Astoria, Queens around three o'clock that afternoon. My brother opened the door and he couldn't believe that I was there, he thought he was dreaming and he hugged me. My mom, who was working a few blocks away, thought that I had died when the second tower collapsed. She came home 15 minutes later and she also hugged me.
Undicisettembre: What did you do on the next days? Because, of course, you cannot go back to work to your office.
Mikaila Cruz: The next day I slept until like 11:30, my brother woke me up and he gave me a piece of paper with a phone number on it, it was the Port Authority phone number because they wanted me to call them to account for myself. That was required for all people who worked in the two buildings. So that's what I did as soon as I woke up.
Then I got into the shower and I had blisters on my feet, I was a mess. When I came out I started coughing up blood, I started feeling like something was in my throat and in my lungs.
Undicisettembre: How and when did your life get back to normalcy or a new normalcy? What happened to you after 9/11?
Mikaila Cruz: In the months before 9/11 my company was bought out by a mutual fund company in Florida. After 9/11 most of the people were moved to Short Hills, New Jersey, because that's where the servers were, but nobody called me, nobody asked if I needed to work. I was just in limbo. Then two weeks later, the CFO called me and he said “Could you come down to Florida to handle disaster recovery? Because there's nobody else that can do this but you and this other guy, Matthew”. We both went down to Florida on October 6, and I decided to move down there. While in Florida I left the company after one year and started a mortgage business with my then husband. I stayed there for the next 12 years before moving back to New York.
Undicisettembre: Do you have long standing health issues after 9/11?
Mikaila Cruz: Yes, I have chronic bronchitis from 9/11. When I had COVID and I was in ICU my lung capacity went down to 30%, because I had lung issues from 9/11 and COVID only made it worse. So, yes: there were and there still are problems with my lungs.
Undicisettembre: When did you go back to Ground Zero for the first time after 9/11?
Mikaila Cruz: On October, 11. They were still doing the cleanup. My friend Rose, who I used to work with, met me there and she said “Are you sure you can do this?” I said “Yeah, I need to do this.” We walked to the side of the site where nobody of the responders could see us, we kind of like snuck in between the fence just to see, but a firefighter came over and said “I don’t want you here, you should leave, there's a lot of dust” and we left. But I did go there pretty soon after the event.
Undicisettembre: Have you been to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum?
Mikaila Cruz: Yes, I'm friends with the curator. When they decided to come up with the idea of the museum, we consulted and it sounded amazing. I went there with my best friend Jen who is also a survivor. Everything was great, except for the fact that when you go in you hear the voices of the people from the planes and from the buildings; I think that that's something that should be heard on a headset or a personal phone, not when you walk through a museum, especially when you're directly involved with the tragedy.
Undicisettembre: What do you think of the Plaza with the two fountains and the Oculus, and what they did there?
Mikaila Cruz: They could not have done a better job. It shows. A lot people like some of my family members, when they come here from the Philippines or from other states, say that they feel something and I totally agree. I believe that, there are memories. There are so many strong memories that people had there and the way they passed was so tragic that you can only wonder what they were thinking or what they were feeling, and the water just represents purity. And I love that.
Undicisettembre: Other than the health issues, how does 9/11 affect your everyday life even today, if it does?
Mikaila Cruz: 9/11 doesn't affect my everyday life. It affects my life on the anniversary. On the anniversary to honor my friends I turn off my phone, I don't go on my computer, I don't connect with anybody until 3 o’clock which is when I got to my mom's house and I saw my family.
Undicisettembre: Do you think the city is still coping with this wound, or has it moved on?
Mikaila Cruz: No, I don't think there's any wound. I don't see it. Except on anniversaries when I walk through Manhattan and I'll see someone with a photo of a loved one that says “Never forget”. I also participate in the 9/11 Memorial Run almost every year. I didn't do it last year, but I do try to do it every year. When you get to the memorial you get very emotional, but other than that I don’t think New Yorkers themselves who are from here still feel wounded. It's always going to be there, but they don't show it.
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