I survived 9/11 but the stranger I met didn’t – his last words stuck with me…and I’ve finally delivered them to his sons

IN the darkness of the World Trade Center’s North Tower on September 11, 2001, two strangers from New York – both in the emergency services – worked together, desperately trying to get trapped civilians to safety. Firefighter Bill Spade made it out alive, while police officer John D’Allara tragically died as the building collapsed on him. John D’Allara, an Emergency Service Unit officer, died during the collapse of the North Tower on 9/11 Credit: Photo courtesy Carol D'Allara Bill Spade, a firefighter in Rescue 5 who was a first responder on 9/11, with his colleagues worked alongside John D’Allara Credit: Photo courtesy Bill Spade Bill was with John in his last moments on 9/11 Credit: National Geographic Carol D’Allara, whose husband John died in the collapse of the North Tower Credit: National Geographic In the 25 minutes they knew each other, Bill and John laughed about being from opposite sides of New York – and “wrote their own obituaries” – as they battled to escape the crumbling North Tower. “Well, here we are in the middle of this tragedy – one tower coming down and the other minutes away from coming down – and in a matter of moments, we’re working together, and we’re talking about our families,” Bill tells The Sun. “My uncle lived up near where John lived. I had also been a police officer before I became a fireman, and we talked about each of us getting out of the academy at a similar time.” John, 47, told Bill about his wife Carol and his two boys, then aged seven and two, while Bill spoke about his own wife Cynthia and their two young sons, each giving the other the information their families would need if only one made it home. Less than half an hour later, Bill would become the only member of Staten Island’s Rescue Company 5 to survive the attacks, while John was killed when the North Tower collapsed. Ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11, now-retired Bill has spoken exclusively to The Sun about that horrific day, and the emotional moment he finally sat down with John’s now-adult sons for the upcoming National Geographic documentary 9/11: Reunited. Bill says: “He was thinking of his boys right to the very end. “There were no lights on; it was completely pitch black. We were helping people out of the building and talking about his wife and two boys, and my wife and boys.” When Bill first encountered John, he was stuck at the bottom of a stairwell with dozens of civilians unable to open the jammed doors standing between them and escape. Bill says he most vividly remembers John’s calmness, even in the most terrifying circumstances. “I was always proud of myself for being calm and cool in a situation and not letting emotions get the best of me, and I could certainly see that in John himself.” The pair took turns charging at a door until they finally forced it open, allowing people to begin getting out. “We left the North Tower about 30 seconds before it came down. John looked up and said, ‘It’s clear. Everybody run’. At the time, I never thought the towers would come down,” Bill says. Eventually, everything inside the tower went eerily quiet and the rescuers realised they needed to leave. John went first to check it was safe before the others followed. They had been outside for less than 30 seconds when the North Tower came crashing down, with John still inside. Knowing John was gone, Bill curled into a ball as he was buried beneath the debris, believing he was going to die too. At one point, he put a finger into his mouth to create an airway so he could breathe – and just as John had done shortly before, his thoughts immediately went to his family. But Bill’s life was spared. When he realised he was still alive, he sprung into action to find the bodies of John and the people he was trapped with. He says: “As soon as the buildings came down and I realised they were no longer there, I went searching for a chief and said, ‘We’ve got to go back and look for them’. Nearly 3,000 people died in the 9/11 attacks 25 years ago next month Credit: Reuters People flee as one of the World Trade Centre towers collapses on 9/11 Credit: AFP Bill Spade stands in front of the Ladder 3 Fire Truck at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum Credit: National Geographic Bill finally got to deliver his emergency service partner’s last words to his sons Credit: National Geographic “I said, ‘I know where they’re at. They’re down here.’ Sure enough, months later, they were found there.” Twelve members of Rescue 5 were working that day. Bill was the only one who came home. He says: “When the North Tower was coming down and I was getting buried, the only people I said goodbye to were my wife and two boys. “Since that day, that’s been my main focus in everything: prioritising my wife and two boys.” But surviving when nearly 3,000 others didn’t brought a burden of its own. Firefighters routinely witnessed death, Bill says, but dealt with it together back at the station before the next emergency demanded their attention. September 11 was not something he could simply put behind him. Bill says: “There was no forgetting it after losing all the guys I was working with. I knew I had to have counselling, so I sought it out.” The first counsellor wasn’t right for him, but instead of abandoning therapy, Bill tried again and found someone he would continue seeing for four years. He says: “It’s about living positively. I go to bed every single night and say, ‘Thank you for this day on Earth.’ “If I wake up tomorrow – and that’s a big if – then I’m going to make it a great day.” There is, however, one question about his survival that has haunted him: why him? Carol D’Allara and her sons, Nicholas and John, sit with Bill Spade and his family during their reunion Credit: National Geographic Bill reunited with the family of John D’Allara who died by his side on 9/11 Credit: National Geographic Bill recalls: “I was once asked, ‘All the guys from your company died. Why do you think you lived?’ I said, ‘I guess God was just looking out for me’. “He said to me, ‘God wasn’t looking out for all the other people who died?’ “That really hurt me. I didn’t know how to answer it.” It was the widow of another firefighter killed on September 11 who eventually gave him an answer. Bill says she told him: “Bill, you were chosen because you would continue to tell the story, carry on the events of that day and make sure we don’t forget. “That’s so special. Don’t give it up. Keep talking about it, because we don’t want these people forgotten.” Bill has since told his story “400 or 500 times”, including through educational talks and presentations at New York’s 9/11 Museum. “I always talk about the guys from Rescue 5 and name them,” he says. “I think I’ve lived up to that promise to never forget the events of that day.” He has also met the families of some of those he and John helped to save. One woman told him her father had survived the attacks and lived for another decade. Bill recalls: “She said, ‘We had 10 more years with my dad because of you.’ That’s a great feeling.” Bill stands in front of the memorial wall at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum remembering John Credit: National Geographic The D’Allara family and the Spade family pose together during their reunion as part of a new documentary Credit: National Geographic That promise eventually brought Bill back to the D’Allara family. He had met John’s wife Carol for lunch several years after the attacks and told her what had happened during her husband’s final moments, but John’s sons had been too young at the time. When Bill finally sat down with John Jr and Nicolas for the documentary, they hadn’t spoken in 25 years. At last, he told them how their father had helped force open the jammed door – and how his actions had helped save around 20 lives. “I was apprehensive about whether what I had been doing all these years -talking about their dad in the way I did – was okay with them. “I never wanted to mention anybody who had passed and then have somebody in the family become upset about something I had said.” But the most important message was much simpler. “The big thing is he was thinking about you until the very end,” Bill told them. “That’s the most important thing I needed you to know.” The meeting also allowed Bill to see what had become of the two little boys John had spoken about in the darkness. “It was very emotional and gratifying. It was a weight lifted off my shoulders that I had relayed this message from their dad,” Bill says. John Jr became a Marine reservist, while Nicolas followed his father into the police department and chose to work in the Bronx, where his dad had started his own career. Carol even showed Bill John’s retired police badge – the same one her husband had worn and which can only be passed down through his children or grandchildren. “Your dad would be proud of you,” Bill told them. Carol, meanwhile, thanked the firefighter who had carried her husband’s memory for a quarter of a century. “People say they’ll never forget and you’re one of the people who honoured that promise,” she told him. For Bill, it was a moment decades in the making. He says: “It was just wonderful. I feel like I got a lot off my chest and was able to finish the job I was supposed to do.” As the 25th anniversary approaches, Bill is acutely aware that there is now a generation with no memory of September 11 at all. He worries they are not being taught enough about the day that killed 2,977 people – including not only his colleagues and John, but his own uncle, who was a passenger on United Airlines Flight 93. Bill says: “The biggest thing is how it started off as a normal day: beautiful blue skies and nice, clean, crisp air. So many people were going to work as if it were just another Tuesday. “By the end of the day, so many families were affected and so many lives were lost.” Both his sons went through school in New York, he says, yet their education about September 11 amounted to little more than an annual moment of silence. He believes the attacks should be taught properly in schools so those born afterwards understand the human stories behind the numbers. For Bill, that includes the extraordinary acts of courage he witnessed amid the horror. He says: “Deep inside, it showed how good we all are as people. We have to think more positively – get that feeling deep inside out – and realise we’re all just people. “We need to value life so much.” And 25 years after meeting a stranger named John D’Allara in a pitch-black stairwell, Bill is still making sure the man who helped save so many lives is not forgotten. 9/11: Reunited is premiering from 9pm on Sunday 23rd August on National Geographic.