Just saw this story on the news and thought it would be nice to share today. On September 11, 2001, minutes after United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower between the 77th and 85th floors at 9:03 a.m., the 24-year-old Crowther called his mother from his office at 9:12 a.m., calmly leaving a brief message saying, Mom, this is Welles. I want you to know that Im okay. Crowther made his way down to the 78th floor sky lobby, where he encountered a group of survivors, huddled and waiting for help, including a badly burned Ling Young, who worked on the 86th floor in New Yorks Department of Taxation and Finance. Young had been one of approximately 200 people waiting at a bank of elevators to evacuate when the plane hit the tower, and one of the few survivors. Blinded by the blood covering her glasses, she was rescued when Crowther appeared, carrying a young woman on his back, and directed them in a strong, authoritative voice, to the stairway, where the survivors followed him fifteen floors down, where he dropped off the woman he was carrying before heading back upstairs to assist others. By the time he returned to the 78th floor, he had a bandana around his nose and mouth to protect him from smoke and haze. He found another group of survivors, which included AON Corp. employee Judy Wein, who worked on the 103rd floor, and was in pain from a broken arm, cracked ribs and a punctured lung. According to Wein, Crowther assisted in putting out fires and administering first aid. He then announced to that group, Everyone who can stand, stand now. If you can help others, do so. He directed this group downstairs as well. If he hadnt come back, I wouldnt have made it, said Wein. People can live 100 years and not have the compassion, the wherewithal to do what he did. As occupants of the Tower headed for the street, Crowther turned around and went back inside multiple times, according to witnesses. He was last seen doing so with members of the FDNY before the South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. Crowthers body was found on March 19, 2002, alongside several firefighters and emergency workers bunched in a suspected command post in the South Tower lobby. Allison Crowther related that the New York medical examiners office told them her sons body was found intact, with no signs of burns, and that authorities speculated that he was aiding the rescue effort as a civilian usher when the building collapsed. Crowthers family were unaware of the exact details of Crowthers activities between his last phone call to his mother and his death until Allison Crowther read Judy Weins firsthand account in The New York Times, of being saved by a man in a red bandana, which led to Allison meeting with the people that Welles had saved, including Wein and Young, who confirmed from photographs the identity of the man who aided them. According to survivor accounts, Crowther saved as many as 12 people following the attacks. His mother commented, We took great peace in knowing that [Welles] didnt suffer and that, up until the end, he was being very courageous, doing what he wanted to do. So he must have felt very fulfilled that day, knowing he was helping others. Jefferson Crowther said of his son, He didnt live long enough to be head of a corporation or do good works or endow a museum. But what he did on September 11, thats his legacy.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 23:48:53 +0000
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