Blind since birth, Michael Hingson relied on his guide dog Roselle to lead him down 78 floors of the North Tower during the 9\/11 terrorist attacks \u2014 and she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 11, 2001, Michael Hingson was in his 78th-floor office in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He was preparing for the workday when he suddenly heard a muffled boom. The building shuddered. Then, he felt it moving. \u201cWe moved about 20 feet,\u201d Hingson recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the tower lurched back into place, Hingson\u2019s colleague David Frank saw flames and large amounts of smoke from the office window. Debris rained down in front of the glass. And Frank became increasingly frantic. \u201cWe gotta get out of here right now!\u201d Frank screamed, according to Victorville Daily Press. \u201cYou don\u2019t understand. You can\u2019t see it!\u201d Frank was right. After all, Hingson was blind. He\u2019d been blind since the day he was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Hingson\u2019s companion, a guide dog named Roselle, emerged from the nap she was taking underneath her master\u2019s desk. The yellow Labrador Retriever was not showing any kind of fear reaction yet \u2014 and that led Hingson to believe that his office had time to evacuate in a calm manner. What happened next proves that the bond between this blind man and his guide dog was so much bigger than just the two of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How Michael Hingson And Roselle Escaped The Burning World Trade Center Hingson had good knowledge of the building\u2019s emergency procedures. This was important for him, not only as the local leader of Quantum Corporation\u2019s New York office but also as a blind person who couldn\u2019t rely on signage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After calling his wife and letting her know that he needed to evacuate the office due to an explosion, Hingson calmly told Frank that Frank followed as the office workers began walking down the stairs. And as soon as Hingson and Roselle entered the stairwell, Hingson smelled a familiar smell. He soon remembered it from the airport \u2014 jet fuel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group started their descent of over 1,460 steps from the 78th floor. Burn victims passed them on their way down. One woman began struggling to breathe and insisted that they wouldn\u2019t get out of the building alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hingson said that he and about eight others stopped and had a group hug right there on the stairs, encouraging the woman to keep going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRoselle gave her kisses,\u201d Michael Hingson remembered, according to the 9\/11 Memorial & Museum. \u201cRoselle was really good at that.\u201d They continued downward. Firemen passed the group on their way up to fight the flames above them. Many gave the easygoing Roselle a quick pet as they passed her. Tragically, it would likely be one of their last moments of joy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Panic amid Hingson\u2019s group set in again close to the 50th floor. Frank stopped, telling everyone they were all going to die. Hingson snapped back, \u201cStop it, David. If Roselle and I can get down these stairs, so can you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that, the pair helped keep everyone else calm, as they completely trusted each other at that point. And Hingson\u2019s encouraging words to Roselle as they descended each flight of stairs resonated with everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finally, the group reached the main lobby. However, officials instructed crowds not to leave because dangerous debris \u2014 including dead bodies \u2014 was still raining down onto the street. So Hingson and the others headed into the central complex and found another exit to walk out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fleeing The Collapse Of The Twin Towers It wasn\u2019t until they were outside that the group realized the extent of the damage caused to the World Trade Center during the 9\/11 attacks. Frank saw fire in the South Tower, as well as the North. He stopped to take a picture at Vesey Street and Broadway, just a block north of the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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