Greg Carafello, now 66, survived the 9/11 attacks after evacuating the South Tower of the World Trade Center moments before it was struck by a hijacked plane, and has since returned to work in a new tower built on the same site. His account, given to the Daily Mail around the 25th anniversary of the attacks, highlights both the chaos of the escape and the long personal aftermath, including years in which he avoided returning to Manhattan at all before eventually resuming work there.

Carafello was on the 18th floor when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower at 8.46am, and he and a colleague, Joe, evacuated down a narrow stairwell, taking 16 minutes to reach the ground amid debris and destruction in the concourse levels. They were still outside the South Tower when it was struck by United Airlines Flight 175 at 9.03am; Carafello's earlier phone call to their New Jersey office was the only reason his wife knew he had survived. His friend Jimmy Martello died in the North Tower. Carafello did not set foot in Manhattan again for six years, returning to work there in 2007, and now volunteers as a docent at the 9/11 museum while working on the 85th floor of the rebuilt World Trade Center. The attacks killed 2,977 people in total.